In Fate's Hands
by Shinobi of the Onyx Sands
Summary: Setsuna and Konoka are out on their honeymoon and Fate decides to step in and say congrats, Fate style. Story takes place after 'The Perfect Day'
1. Chapter 1: Take Your Time

The honeymoon could not be any more perfect' thought Setsuna to herself. It was true, what she was thinking. After all, she was finally married to the one she had always wanted to be with. Marrying Konoka was the dream Setsuna had finally made reality. Suffering through Evangeline's training from hell, the lonely first night in the desert, being trapped by the sandstorm at the end of it, made it worth it though. Everything now seemed so much easier when she looked back at it. The Mahora Martial Arts Budokai even seemed easy by comparison. Evangeline was demonic in her training. It made both Setsuna and Konoka even more concerned for Negi who must go through that on a daily basis.

Konoka and Setsuna were walking down by the beach taking in the sunny day, although they could both see in each other's eyes they would rather be back at the hotel with nothing on and in each other's arms. That morning they had made the decision to enjoy the day until around noon and then go back to the hotel and spend the remainder of the day completely naked with each other. Konoka wanted it just a little more than Setsuna did but she knew they would get more enjoyment out of it than they were walking outside. Still though, the day was perfect. Neither of them could really complain about it. They could wait a while. An hour was nothing to them after Evangeline's training. Konoka turned and smiled saying, "Hey Se-chan, let's go for a quick swim. That'll cool us off a bit. It feels like the day is getting hotter by the minute." Setsuna smiled and agreed. The swim felt great, Konoka had been right. It did serve to cool them down.

Up on the boardwalk a boy, looking no older than twelve sat watching all around him. He watched as the girls played in the surf. His full attention was being diverted however by his companion. He was being pestered to go down there and swim himself. He had told her outright that he had no interest in that. That sparked a small and quickly ended argument, "Aniki, I want to go swimming with you!" his companion said, "You promised me we would." The boy had to remember that this was all just an act for the public, just in case someone recognized them. "Onee-chan," he said in the most boyish tone he could use. "I just don't feel like going swimming today. Maybe tomorrow." The girl he was with pouted. It was a perfect acting job. The girls he had been watching walked by, talking about something he didn't hear. He now knew where they were headed though. He found who he had been looking for but he had to wait before he acted. He had to be patient and strike at the right moment. "Come on Onee-chan. Let's go get some ice cream." Fate had smiled a sinister smile that day. Soon it would all come to an end.

The girls made their way back to the hotel, weaving through the crowd. They finally reached their room after a few minutes. Setsuna locked the door behind them and they both undressed the other. The swimsuits they had been wearing did not take long to remove. Setsuna kissed Konoka as soon as they were done undressing. Setsuna spoke after the kiss. "I think we should a take a shower and wash off the salt water first before we do anything else. We can also have some fun in there while we're at it." Setsuna smiled her sly, 'I want you' smile. It was the one she always had on when she wanted Konoka. After all, Konoka was the only one who could satisfy her needs. Konoka got the shower running and let the water warm up just a bit before they got in.

The feel of the water washing the salt away felt great. The two of them stood there taking turns getting the remainder of the salt from the ocean off of the spots the shower's water didn't automatically wash away. It relaxed them both and after they stepped out and dried off they went over to the bed. Setsuna gave Konoka a kiss as they both lay there. She ran a loving hand down Konoka's body, enjoying the feel of Konoka's soft skin beneath her fingers. There was no need to hurry things along. Both of them knew they wanted to take their time with this. When they had done this before, they really didn't have the opportunity to take as much time as they wished. Now though they had all the time they could ask for. Alone, together and completely naked in a room where they would not be disturbed unless they wished to be, they could not have asked for any better.

Being in such a quiet and relaxing place made it almost feel like home. Konoka was snuggled up against Setsuna as they laid there. Setsuna was continuing to run a hand along Konoka's body and thinking. Their lives had changed so much in the past few days. Emotions were still being figured out by the both of them. The only ones they were sure of at that point were love and joy. Being with each other was all they could really ask for or want. Setsuna let her wandering hands slowly pass over Konoka's breasts. This got a reaction from Konoka. Konoka smiled and said, "Keep going, I think we're both in the mood for this right now. Take your time with it and enjoy everything. I know I will when it's my turn to pleasure you." Setsuna couldn't have agreed more.

Setsuna did take her time. She started by massaging every inch of Konoka's body save for a couple of spots she was saving for later. Konoka enjoyed the feeling of Setsuna's gentle touch over the entirety of herself. Setsuna started to massage each of Konoka's breasts, starting on the beginning of the rise of them and working in toward the nipples. Konoka was enjoying the fact that they could take their time and therefore get more pleasure out of everything they did. Setsuna slowly brought her hands lower down Konoka's body, playfully messing with her belly button as she did so. This caused Konoka to giggle slightly as it apparently tickled. Setsuna's hands continued lower, gracefully sliding down the inside of Konoka's thighs before coming back up. Konoka moaned as Setsuna slowly slid a couple of fingers inside of her and began to gently play with her. Setsuna kissed Konoka as she played with her. Konoka's moans were going into the kiss as Setsuna slowly began to pick up the pace of her playing. The kiss moved down to Konoka's breasts, the nipples being licked one at a time. Setsuna kept playing as she stayed for a bit longer licking at each of Konoka's nipples. It was only after a short time there that she finally began to move the kiss further down.

Konoka was trying to be quiet, but Setsuna was turning her on so much that her moans came out louder than she intended them to. They grew a bit louder when Setsuna slowly slid her tongue inside of Konoka. Setsuna was taking her time but was now playing a bit faster. Konoka moaned almost every time Setsuna licked at her clit. It was far and away the best she had ever been given. Konoka moaned even louder as her orgasm finally hit her. Setsuna continued to lick Konoka clean. She smiled as she looked at Konoka. "Your turn to pleasure me. I'm already really turned on, so it might not take too long. I know you'll make it last as long as you can."

Setsuna laid on her back as Konoka rolled over so that she was on top now. Konoka stared down at Setsuna's nipples which were already hard and smiled. She kissed Setsuna and returned the favor of the message. She started with the front of Setsuna, feeling every last firm muscle on her body. Setsuna silently moaned at the touch. Konoka was taking her time and began to massage Setsuna's breasts. She made it a point to take her time with the nipples, slowly making circles around them with her fingers. Setsuna moaned slightly as she felt the touch and moaned even more when it started to go lower. Konoka finally let a couple of her fingers slide inside of Setsuna. She slowly began to play with Setsuna, who was in complete bliss at that moment. Moans were escaping Setsuna as Konoka picked up the pace a bit more as she trailed a slow line of kisses down Setsuna's body. Konoka gently slid her tongue into Setsuna and it was not long before Setsuna came.

Setsuna let out a satisfied moan as she felt the orgasm roll through her body. Konoka returned the favor of being licked clean. She gave Setsuna a kiss as the two cuddled with one another in the afterglow of sex. Sleep was quickly catching them despite the time of day. They slept, a blanket barely covered their naked bodies as they snuggled together. The sound of Konoka's quiet breathing and Setsuna's gentle noises were all that filled the air. There was just the simple quiet of sleep.

Out on the boardwalk, the boy and his companion were walking. She had an ice cream cone and was happily eating it. The boy had an expression on his face that could have turned someone to stone. He was simply pissed. He had wanted to jump on his chance now, while he knew his target would be busy but his companion had decided to take forever ordering her ice cream. He would have to reprimand her for that later. His piercing gaze searched the crowd for the place he was headed for. A few minutes of searching and he finally found it. "Onee-san, we're here. Time to go find our friends, right?" He asked in a cold voice that he was trying to make sound childish. "Yeah, it sure is Fate-kun." He immediately turned on a dime and slapped her hard. "You use my name again and I will not hesitate to kill you where you stand. Are we clear, Onee-san?' The last bit had a poisonous sound to it. She stammered as she regained her composure, "Y-yes, of course it is clear Onii-chan. My apologies."

He walked up to the counter and asked for the location of the girls he knew saying that they were friends of his. The man at the desk told them the room number and the boy thanked him. He smiled evilly as they walked up to the room. He would take great pleasure in doing what he had been planning to do for over a day now.

Unaware of the approaching boy, Konoka got up and dressed. Setsuna followed suit simply because she was self conscious about her being naked when someone else around her was not. Still half asleep they returned to their nap. Pajamas made the return to sleep a bit more comfortable. They snuggled together and tried to drift back to sleep. Their sleep would not last long.

Meanwhile out in the hall the boy was quickly approaching the room. "I think it's time we pay our friends a visit don't you, Tsukuyomi?" The girl with him smiled and nodded, "Oh yes I do think it is time. I miss that Shinmei girl I met in Kyoto. I can't wait to see the look on her face." He stopped in front of the door and stood in the hall. "Vish Tal Li Shutal Vangate. Bto Ticos Dielksato Dru Petrose" He spoke as he incanted the spell and directed it toward the door. The door shattered when the stone spear hit it in the center. Both girls immediately woke up and were staring at the white haired boy. "Hello girls, remember me?" He said with a smile as evil as he was. Fate had come knocking.

(Author's note: Translation of spell, which was taken right out of the series and is in Fate's arsenal. First sentence is his activation key. The second part is "Magic Wall Breaker: "Spear of Stone" one would assume Setsuna put a magic barrier on the door which is why Fate would use this particular spell. This one is going be a long haul before it is done. I figure the cliffhanger should make you want to come back and read more. Read and enjoy.)

**Shinobi of the Onyx Sands**


	2. Chapter 2: In Fate's Hands

Setsuna jumped to her feet, only halfway alert as the door shattered inward. Standing in the ruined Doorway was someone she had never wanted to see again. She heard Fate speak and then Konoka's yell snapped her fully awake. Setsuna immediately stood between Konoka and Fate, guarding her with her life. "Fate Averruncus, what are you doing here?" She asked with a sharp edge in her voice. Fate smiled and then simply vanished from her sight. He spoke, as he reappeared from his shukuchi. His voice came from behind her. "I merely wished to congratulate you and to steal that which you love most." His voice sent chills through Setsuna.

His movement had taken Setsuna slightly off guard. Konoka was caught in the split second it took for Setsuna to react. She swung a fist at Fate who vanished once more, this time though he had Konoka in his possession. Fate smiled and said, "It was so much fun seeing you again. I do hope you are entertained by my associate." With those words he vanished in a transfer gate spell. Setsuna yelled after him, even though she knew it was useless.

Setsuna had just managed to grab her sword before she saw who was with Fate. Tsukuyomi came at her swinging. "Hello Setsuna-sempai. So nice to see your lovely face again. I do hope I provide some fun for you." Setsuna blocked Tsukuyomi's blow and stepped back. She desperately wanted to go after Konoka but Tsukuyomi was in her way. Not only that but she also had no idea where to begin looking. She would have to fight Tsukuyomi and then start her search. Setsuna dropped back a bit, lowering the angle of her blade before swinging it up and around at Tsukuyomi. The sound of ringing metal filled the small room as the fight started. Sparks from the colliding blades shone with an odd light as the two Shinmei swordswomen exchanged blows.

Setsuna hated to do so but she saw no other way of winning. She would have to let her wings out, let her full power out if she wanted to win. She jumped back and her white wings came out, filling the room with a gust of wind as they opened. Tsukuyomi jumped back a bit at this. Setsuna immediately took advantage of the instant Tsukuyomi became off guard. She used a shundo to get up close to Tsukuyomi and kicked her hard enough to send Tsukuyomi backward through the doorframe. Setsuna immediately took off out of the hotel, running from the fight. Not because she couldn't win, but because she had something more important to do. A window at the end of the hall was open and Setsuna simply jumped out of it. Her wings let her take flight and she softly landed on the ground. Returning her wings, she immediately started to look for both Fate and Konoka. One she would rescue and the other she would try to kill. Fate had picked the wrong person to steal from. Setsuna would get Konoka back.

She wandered through the crowd of people that filled the boardwalk. Her eyes were frantically searching for any sign of either Fate or Konoka. Her eyes saw neither of them. A voice from behind her made her blood run cold. "Well, well, it seems the lover has come to rescue her mistress. Good job getting past Tsukuyomi. I am impressed that you are still so far above her in skill. It will be a shame to have to incapacitate you so easily." Fate was standing right behind her smiling evilly holding Konoka prisoner. "Se-chan run! Fate is too powerful for you!" Konoka yelled quickly before Fate silenced her with a simple punch.

Setsuna immediately went after Fate, her sword in hand. "Don't you dare harm Konoka! " Her voice rang out with anger and the intent to kill. Fate's magical barriers blocked her initial blow and as she continued her attack Fate looked at her and gave her a look that would have terrified her had she not been attacking in anger. "You foolish girl. Your attacks can't do anything to me. You are still far too weak to be fighting me. " Fate spoke with an edge to his voice. His fist seemed to materialize in Setsuna's solar plexus. She had barely seen the attack coming. Wind left her in a gust as she passed out. 'He's on a totally different level. I'm not even in the same ballpark. I'm sorry Kono-chan. I'm just not strong enough to save you but I promise I will save you. Just hold on until then.' Setsuna thought to herself as the world around her went black.

Setsuna awoke several hours later. When she woke she was in what appeared to her to be a hospital room. "Don't hurt yourself Ne-chan. Wouldn't want you to be unable to find Konoka." Said a cocky voice next to her. She rolled her head slightly to see Kotaro sitting there with a goofy smile on his face. Setsuna spoke, only realizing just how much pain she was in after she did so, "Kotaro-san what on earth are you doing here? Is anybody with you?" She winced as she sat up. "Yeah,' Kotaro said, "Chizuru and Kaede are here. Chizuru wanted to tag along. Guess she couldn't leave me by myself. You do of course remember that her and I are a couple right?"

Setsuna nodded as she scanned the room. Kaede was reading a manga novel and Chizuru was just entering the room, her arms filled with food. Chizuru spoke as she entered. "Good to see you awake Setsuna-chan. Kotaro was the one that found you. He and I were out on a date when we ran across you unconscious on the ground. We called Kaede in because we figured it would be a good idea to do so." She smiled as she gave Kotaro a hug and a kiss after putting her armload of food down on a table in the room. Kotaro smiled, he was a bit embarrassed but not as bad as he had been the first time she had kissed him in public. Setsuna spoke quietly, answering Chizuru's question. "The one who attacked me was Fate Averruncus. He has Tsukuyomi with him. He stole Konoka right in front of me. There was nothing I could do to stop him. He's simply too powerful. It made me feel like I had trained for nothing. I have never felt more weak in my life." Setsuna started to cry as she felt a myriad of emotions. She was angry at herself for losing Konoka, for failing to protect her. Worst of all she felt the horrifying loss of having the only person to ever love her stolen from her.

Chizuru put a comforting hand on Setsuna, trying to comfort her. Kaede got up and did the same. Kotaro had a sad look in his eyes. He had seen this before, he knew there was not much that could be done. He ground his teeth together in anger at Fate. It was beyond him how Fate could do something so heartless. To steal someone's love was to attack their very heart and soul. It was the worst thing Fate could have done to Setsuna. "That bastard has it coming to him when we get our hands on him. I'll help you find Konoka, Setsuna-chan. I'm sure Chizuru and Kaede will help as well. You're not alone in this at least. We'll also let you take Fate on. I know better than to stand in the way of someone who is contemplating revenge. I can hold off Tsukuyomi while you deal with Fate. Kaede will help with that. Chizuru will be out of the fight but she'll help in any way she can. We'll get Konoka back, don't worry." Kotaro said. He was in the mood for a fight and he would definitely give them one.

Still in pain, Setsuna was cleared to leave the hospital after a while. The doctor told her not to do anything to strenuous for the next couple of hours. The wind blew Setsuna's hair around as they walked out of the hospital. Searching for Konoka was top priority. Kotaro suggested the start with where Konoka had last been. Getting to the hotel took a little while but they got there with no sign of either Fate or Konoka. Kaede said that it would be hard but not impossible to track Fate from where he had last been. After having a long argument with the hotel management, they were allowed to go up to the room. The remaining splinters of the door still hung to the frame, the stone spear impaling the wall at the back of them room. Kotaro was the first to say anything. "It smells like freshly broken wood, sea salt and I think that last smell is sex. I take it you two did that while you were here." Setsuna nodded and said, "Yes, we did. We had gone down to the beach and then came here afterward. We took a shower together and then we had sex. After that was finished we fell asleep. At some point we woke up and got dressed. We had fallen asleep naked, and I guess we had been planning to go somewhere but we fell asleep again. That was when Fate blew the door apart with magic. It's all a little blurry after that."

Setsuna was retracing the event that had occurred earlier. It was a good start but as she told Kotaro and Kaede how Fate got away the both looked disappointed. Kotaro spoke, thinking things through as he did. "So he used a gate spell to get away. Probably western magic as that takes quite a bit of work to do with just talismans. Unfortunately that leaves us with nothing to go on. I could hazard a guess and say he probably did not go far. He's got a good start on us though. Luckily I know a bit about how he works. Let's start searching the nearby boardwalk and go outward through the town as we look." They all nodded their agreement. Kotaro's strategy seemed to them to be the best plan of action.

Hours of searching turned up nothing. Setsuna felt so hopeless. She couldn't find the one she loved and it was tearing her emotions apart. She felt like just breaking down and crying. It just all felt so hopeless. Fate had too far of a head start on them. Setsuna's thought circled in this destructive loop for several minutes. Kaede spoke to her, seeing how much torment this was and trying to slow Setsuna's spiral into despair. "Setsuna-dono, I know how you must feel but you cannot let your emotions get control of you. Let it all out and you will be better able to accomplish your goal." Kaede smiled and put a hand on Setsuna who just broke down crying. She let all her bottled up emotions out. All her despair, panic and sadness just came out in her tears. It was something that she had never done before all this and part of her chided her for being so soft. Kaede simply let it happen. She knew it was something that Setsuna needed to let out. 'Here I am acting the part of Sessha again. It is a rather fitting role thought Kaede thought to herself as she helped Setsuna back to her feet.

Setsuna felt much better after that for a reason she couldn't figure out. It had cleared her head of a lot of her internal panic at not being able to find Konoka. "Kotaro-san, Kaede-san, Chizuru-san, I think I know where Konoka is. Fate probably took her to outlying town and is simply waiting for us to come to him. He's probably using her as bait to lure me in. That's where we'll go." Setsuna said as she pointed in the direction of the center of town. Soon she would have to confront Fate and try to win Konoka back, Setsuna didn't know if her heart could take another loss.

(Author's note: Second chapter finished. Second out of twelve I intend this to reach to. I'll try my hardest to finish the next chapter as soon as I can. Read and enjoy.)

**Shinobi of the Onyx Sands**


	3. Chapter 3: Dreams

Fate was playing his usual game of 'wait for them to come to me.' He was slowly getting more and more irritated with waiting. Oh how he had loved the look on Setsuna's face when he had stolen Konoka. He smiled to himself as he got up from where he was sitting to check on Konoka. "How are we doing princess? You should be glad I stole you from that Shinmei girl. She would never have brought you true happiness. You would have only become less and less happy as they days wore on. Sure you are happy now but it would not last. So I stole you away from that, to save you from that displeasure. I also did it for other reasons, but why would I tell you my entire plan for everything? She isn't strong enough to save you. She will fail again if she tries to free you now. Such a stupid girl she is to think that love would make her stronger."

Konoka stared at him her eyes burning frustration and hatred. Tied up as she was, there was nothing she could really do. Rope was not the only thing keeping her there. The magic spell Fate had cast on her prevented her from going out of his sight. Konoka had never felt more alone in her entire life. She kept thinking back to the time this had happened in Kyoto. She remembered how it felt to be captured and it brought back a few nightmares for her. Konoka cried slightly as she hoped Setsuna would come to save her. She knew her hopes might be just that though, a wish that couldn't be granted. Fate was simply too powerful. Konoka thought back to the moment she had been taken and the events since then.

It was the sound of Setsuna getting up that had warned her something was wrong. The swarm of confusion that quickly consumed everything was lost in a chaotic sea of emotions. Konoka remembered how Fate had gotten past Setsuna so easily. It had seemed to Konoka that it was effortless for Fate to do such a thing. The sensation of moving that fast was something Konoka remembered well. Fate had grabbed her and returned to where he had been the same way. Seeing everything from that perspective made everything look like it was running impossibly slow. From that perspective it was not hard to see why Setsuna wasn't able to see the motion. Konoka was scared and it was even worse when Fate used a gate spell to move. He had gated them outside and had told her, "I'm going to see just how much she cares to have you back. Tsukuyomi was told to not hold back against Setsuna. I will hold back and be more than fine against one as weak as her. Oh look, here she comes." Konoka had yelled at Setsuna, warning her about Fate but the outcome was the worst possible. Setsuna had been knocked out and then Fate had brought her here.

Konoka had cried so much in the past few hours. She would cry and wonder how Setsuna must be feeling at that exact moment. Konoka hated Fate for doing this. It wasn't like this was one of Evangeline's tests. The only way to stop it was to beat Fate. It seemed like a childhood wish for something silly. Konoka simply felt hopeless and despaired of ever being returned to Setsuna. Night was falling and she simply wished that it was all just a bad dream that she would wake up from when the morning came. She realized how foolish that sounded as she finally let herself drift off to sleep. Her dreams were filled with the happier moments she had spent with Setsuna. Her dreams took her back to the first night they had spent together. She smiled as she dreamed of that great night on Library Island.

The dream sank in and she remembered how nervous they had both been but how great that night had been. It had been the simplest, purest sex they had ever had. That night was the first time she had felt Setsuna's touch inside of her. She had cried out loud enough that they were getting concerned about getting caught but back then the thought had been pushed to the back of their minds. The morning afterward had been a bit awkward but they had thoroughly enjoyed themselves that night. The hardest part had been telling everyone that they were in love with each other. Lost in her dream Konoka smiled and felt a little better. Fate was sitting across the room watching her sleep, wondering what it was that was making her smile. Tsukuyomi finally arrived at the place Fate had said was to be their hideout. "Fate-sama, she looks so cute while she's sleeping, almost as cute as Setsuna-sempai. I can see what they see in each other. I should warn you that Setsuna-sempai's will to have Konoka-chan back is stronger than you think. I wonder if we did the right thing Fate-sama. It could cost you more than you think if you fail to realize..."

Fate got up and used a shundo to get right next to Tsukuyomi. He whispered into her ear with a vicious tone. "Don't you ever think I am incapable of realizing the consequences of my actions. You make that mistake again and I assure you that death will not come fast enough for your liking." His tone leveled as he continued. "Now then, we should get some rest. I have a feeling Setsuna will be here sooner than we realize. It would be a good idea to rest. Remember what I have warned you of Tsukuyomi." He walked over to one of the beds in the small room and sat down on it. "Yes fate-sama, I won't forget." Tsukuyomi said with a trace of fear in her voice. She hated it when Fate did things like that. Sleep soon overcame all but Fate. He was awake well into the night hours thinking about his grand plan. A little more work and it would truly be worth the effort he had put into it.

Setsuna, Kotaro, Chizuru and Kaede were all staying the night at a small inn. Kotaro and Chizuru were already asleep, snuggling with each other as they slept. Setsuna and Kaede were still awake. "You know something Kaede," Setsuna spoke as they sat out on the small porch their room had, "Your words gave me enough strength to move forward today. Losing Konoka has me thinking about everything, I remember looking up at the stars on the first night she and I spent alone together. They were so pretty but, when I looked at Konoka I knew that there was something much prettier right there in front of me. Then, when Evangeline forced me to train before the wedding, I came to realize just how much Konoka meant to me. Now, with this all happening I know I can't fail or I'll lose the one person I love more than anything. I'm sorry if it seems like I'm laying everything on you."

Kaede smiled a bit and then said, "I don't mind listening to people when they have things that need to be worked out. Your heart is simply telling you that Konoka is what makes you feel whole as a person. Without her right there it starts to feel as though there's a hole. Love is one of those weird and complex feelings that no one completely understands. You have to trust what your heart is telling you and right now I bet it is telling you to fight until you can't anymore to get her back. I would expect no less of someone in love with another. I have yet to make up my mind as to who it is I'll share my love with but I know that it is a connection unlike any other. I hope you regain what is most precious to you. You of all people deserve to be loved for who you are. Setsuna, I hope you don't get disappointed if Fate manages to beat you at your next meeting. That boy is a monster in terms of strength. He can easily take Negi-bozu in a fight and not even show a sign of effort on his part. Be prepared to have to retreat and try again once we've figured something out. I know that finding Konoka and getting her back is what's important but you have your own safety to worry about as well. We are here for you. If you ever need to talk again, just ask. Sessha is here for you as is Kotaro and Chizuru."

Setsuna smiled and thanked Kaede. She stayed out on the porch as Kaede went to get some sleep. The stars reminded her of that night out on Library Island. She wished that everything were as simple as it had been back then. The half moon hung in the sky and the stars surrounding it looking just as pretty as they did that night. Setsuna smiled to herself and went to go catch some sleep. Kaede had fallen asleep on the floor and Chizuru and Kotaro were sharing one of the two beds in the room. Setsuna smiled to how happy they looked together. It reminded her of how she and Konoka were together. As she settled into bed and started to fall asleep she began to dream of Konoka. It was a dream to be shared between only her and Konoka. Sleep felt so good right then as she fell deeper into it.

The next morning Setsuna woke up to find Kaede in her bed. "What the hell are you doing Kaede-chan?!" Setsuna yelled as she jumped out of bed and landed on the floor. She was only half way awake and had woken up everyone else in the room. Kaede rubbed her eyes and yawned. "Sorry Setsuna-dono, I didn't mean to scare you. I must have sleep walked into your bed. I'm actually a little surprised myself." She smiled as she spoke. Kotaro yawned and stretched before saying, "Well, now that Setsuna has woken us all up, anybody up for breakfast? After that we can continue our search for Konoka."

Everyone agreed that breakfast was a good idea and they went to a local Soba shop. The various soups they all ordered were eaten in relative silence, each of them thinking about the activities that would occur later that day. They were prepared to find Fate and, if the need arose, to fight him. Everyone knew what had to be done. Kotaro smiled and patted his stomach after finishing, "Ahh, there's nothing like a good old fashioned miso soup first thing in the morning. I could run on that stuff all day. I have to say your miso soup is better, Chizune-chan. Everyone else satisfied for now?"

Setsuna nodded after finishing her meal. Chizuru was smiling at Kotaro's comment and she said, "Yes Kota-kun I think everyone's done. Thank you for saying my food is better. I put a little extra effort into it just for you." Kotaro had smile on his face and his tone was one of mock annoyance, "Ne-chan you know I don't like being called 'Kota-kun'. Class Rep will never let me live that down if she catches wind of it." He changed his tone to a slightly more serious one as he directed his attention to everyone else. "Alright, now with breakfast out of the way we can return to searching for Konoka. I have a few ideas that may give us a lead as to where she is. We'll stop by a few places they may have gone past and ask if anyone has seen them. If that doesn't work I have a backup plan. Kaede, you can track people by their chi right?" Kaede nodded yes and he continued, "Well then, if we don't turn anything up we'll track Tsukuyomi's chi, chances are she'll lead us to where Fate is. Everyone ready? Let's get going."

'Don't worry Konoka. We're coming for you, just hold on until then.' Setsuna thought to herself as they walked into town.

(Author's note: This chapter was annoyingly hard to start. I had trouble figuring out what I wanted Fate to do. He's so devious and evil though, that once you get going he writes himself. Flashbacks in here reference another one of my fanfics. As always, read and enjoy. The next chapter to this should be coming soon.)

**Shinobi of the Onyx Sands**


	4. Chapter 4: Against the Odds

The streets were busy with foot traffic as they all looked for someone who had seen Konoka or Fate. Most of the shop keepers Setsuna spoke to hadn't seen anyone that fit the description of either fate or Konoka. Kotaro was getting slowly more and more pissed as each shop he went also had nothing. Kaede was standing at the center of town with Chizuru trying to feel out Tsukuyomi's chi. Setsuna was about to give up when she decided to go into one more shop before joining Kaede and Chizuru. The sign over the doorway into the shop read 'Kikyo's Gifts'. Setsuna sighed as she walked in.

The shelves were lined with all sorts of the odds and ends type of gifts. She made her way to the counter and stood in the short line waiting. The shop owner finally spoke as Setsuna approached the counter. "Is there anything specific you are looking for miss?" Setsuna spoke quietly, "I was wondering if you might have seen someone. One of them would look to be no older than twelve. He has bright white hair. He would have someone with him. She is my age with long brown hair. Have you seen either of them?"

The shop keeper smiled and replied, "I have seen a few who would fit that last description, but I have only ever met one individual who fits the description of the white haired boy you spoke about. He stopped here a few hours ago. He bought one of the few cosplay outfits I carry. It was a costume for a girl so I guess it was not for him but he did not have anyone with him. I guess he could have left her outside but I'm not sure. Does that help miss?"

Setsuna smiled and thanked her. "It does a little bit. At least I know he hasn't left town altogether. Thank you for your help." Setsuna left the shop to go tell everyone else what little the shop keeper had told her. She made her way to the meeting place and saw Chizuru sitting next to Kotaro on a bench and saw Kaede sitting on the ground. Setsuna smiled as she walked up and then said, "I got a bit of information form a shopkeeper. Fate is still in town. He stopped by that shop a few hours ago. Chances are he's still in town and most likely waiting for us. Did anyone else find anything?"

Kotaro was resting his head in Chizuru's lap, his eyes shut. He spoke without bothering to open them. "I found absolutely nothing. No one I spoke to has ever heard of a kid who looks like that. Sorry I didn't find anything Setsuna." Kaede spoke next her voice a touch quieter than normal. "Tsukuyomi is masking her chi signature. I can ballpark where she is within a few hundred feet but I would have to be closer to pinpoint her. I say we go with what we have and track down Fate. I do have one question though. Setsuna, when we do find Fate what is it you wish to accomplish? You cannot defeat someone that much more powerful than you."

Setsuna nodded, "I know I can't beat Fate. I don't plan on that. I do hope to create enough of a distraction to steal Konoka out from under Fate's nose. It's gonna be risky but we'll have to fight Fate. I'll fight him while you and Kotaro distract Tsukuyomi. Chizuru, I hate to involve you in all of this but you're going to have to be the one who steals Konoka back. You'll have to wait until I signal you to do so though. Fate is sure to be expecting something like this. Fate could care less about his partner, so capturing Tsukuyomi in hopes of trading her for Konoka would be useless. There's only one real plan that will work and if that fails we'll have to retreat and think of something else. If that happens I'll probably try to do something irrational, please prevent me from doing so. Is everybody clear on what we're doing as far as the plan goes?"

Everyone quickly agreed. They knew what was at stake here. Getting Konoka back was something that had to be accomplished. Kotaro stretched and got up. "This is gonna be a hard fight considering we know we can't possibly win let alone hold our own. Fate is inhuman in terms of pure power. He knows spells that are unbelievably powerful and I think he has yet to actually get serious in a fight. We have to try though. We can't give up on this just because he's so powerful. Negi wouldn't want us to do that if he were here. We have to fight with everything we've got. Let's get going."

Setsuna smiled at Kotaro's words. They brought her a bit of hope in this seemingly hopeless situation. He was right though, the fight would be impossible. She knew that trying to beat him was an impossible dream. Still, her plan had to work and for it to work she would have to fight Fate. Despair filled her mind for a moment as she contemplated the fight. Her mind flickered with images of herself being killed by one of Fate's many spells. Even in her own mind she couldn't win against him. Her thoughts were broken as Kaede put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "We'll get your loved one back safely. Don't worry." Kaede said with a smile.

Setsuna was cheered up a bit by this as they headed to where Kaede said was a likely position for Fate's location. The hike brought them ever closer to an unavoidable fight and a confrontation none of them were prepared for. Everyone felt like they were walking right into Fate's trap and they could almost feel it closing in around them. A glint of steel and a blur was all that gave them warning as Kotaro was almost cut in half. A timely shundo was all that saved his life. "Hello Sempai. So nice to see your lovely face. I do hope we can continue where our fight last left off. I'm not holding back either. Fate doesn't want you to get any closer than you already have. So, you will be turned away here and now if you value the life of your lover." Said the voice of Tsukuyomi as the dust from her attack cleared. She was smiling.

Fate was wondering if sending Tsukuyomi out to face Setsuna and her friends was a good plan of attack. He usually never doubted a plan he himself had made but this one rankled him slightly. He knew that Setsuna was more than powerful enough to take Tsukuyomi by herself but he was planning for not what was, but what was going to be. He knew that Setsuna would have her friends fight Tsukuyomi while she herself came after him. He took a small bit of pleasure in knowing it was an easy win. "Your foolish lover has created a plan that will fail. Setsuna will fail once more in trying to get you back and I want you to see the look of anguish on her face as she fails again." Fate said to Konoka who was tied to a post on the deck outside of the small house. Fate was waiting.

Tsukuyomi was attacking them with relentless fervor. Kaede and Setsuna were being forced into a tactical corner. Kotaro joined the fight, kicking Tsukuyomi in the side. Kaede was throwing Kunai at Tsukuyomi, trying to keep her from regaining her composure. Kaede yelled at Setsuna as she blocked one of Tsukuyomi's attacks, "Go! Konoka is not that far from here, I can feel it. We can hold Tsukuyomi off long enough." A grunt left Kaede as Tsukuyomi kicked her. Setsuna was concerned but she knew that this was her only chance to get away from the fight.

She ran, taking Chizuru with her. She could feel the sense of dread that filled her as she got closer To Fate's hideout. Setsuna and Chizuru ran as fast as they could. The hideout was a good distance from where Tsukuyomi had attacked. As they ran up to the small house, the first thing Setsuna noticed was Konoka tied to a post. She yelled out to Konoka, her voice filled with a wide range of different emotions. "Konoka! I'm here to take you back!" Konoka smiled but her smile quickly disappeared. Fate was standing behind Setsuna. "I see you managed to find a way here. Too bad this visit will be so short, I rather find your intrusions interesting." Fate spoke, almost directly into Setsuna's ear. His tone turned her blood to ice.

Her eyes went wide as she heard Fate speak. There had been no sign of him and yet here he was directly behind her. Her body reacted instantly. She pulled her sword and in the same movement turned and swung it at Fate. It connected with him but where he was hit turned to water. His apparition smiled and said, "Well done, you reacted like I knew you would. Look behind you, Shinmei girl." Setsuna turned and fate was there in front of her, sitting in a chair on the porch of the house and he was smiling.

"Face me like a man Fate! None of your stupid tricks and spells, come face me like you mean it!" Setsuna yelled at him. She was through wanting to put up with his tricks. She wanted to kill Fate for taking Konoka away. Her mind had completely forgotten the fact that Fate could easily beat her. She charged Fate and was instantly thrown by a spell he had not spoken. He smiled at her and spoke with a tone bordering on liquid evil. "You desire death if you seriously wish me to fight you like I mean it. For your sake, I hope you are prepared to lose this fight and know when to walk away. If you don't walk away I will kill you."

Setsuna knew Fate was not lying. She also knew that she had a plan. Fate suddenly used a shukuchi to close the distance between them far faster than a shundo could. The heel of his hand barely missed Setsuna's ribs as she did a backward shundo. She swung her blade and put chi behind it to generate a slicing wall of chi. Fate simply sidestepped the blow and dashed at Setsuna. A kick went out, aimed at her ribs. Setsuna barely managed to catch the kick with the flat of her sword. Her mind could barely keep up with Fate's movements. She could only anticipate the next move. She figured that Fate could figure out her next ten moves and any variations she could possibly put into them. Tactical fighting here would be her undoing. Setsuna was being forced to think outside of her training.

Fate kept pressing the attack and was trying to wear Setsuna down. He personally was finding this fight to be rather dull and uninteresting. She was so far beneath him that it was no effort to stay ahead of her movements. Setsuna used a shundo to get behind him and did something unusual. Instead of swinging her sword at him, she crouched and used a kick to try and sweep his feet out from under him. Fate managed to realize what she was doing fast enough to avoid being taken off balance. He smiled, realizing he was making her try to win.

He stepped backward a bit with a shukuchi and then said, "Well done. You've started thinking outside of your little Shinmei box. Now then, time to end this pointless fight. You will not be getting Konoka back today, no matter how hard you try. Your little friend was easy enough to capture, so that little plan is gone." Setsuna was surprised he had time to cast a containment spell in the midst of their fight and that he had done so without any indication he had done so. She listened as Fate continued, "I'll be ending this fight now. You'll survive this attack but if you choose to keep fighting afterward I will kill you."

With that Fate raised his hands up and a spell started to form in his hands. Setsuna felt a pang of sorrow roll through her as she knew she had lost this fight. Fate simply appeared in front of her and hit her with a simple attack. "Pao Quan!" He said as his fist connected with her stomach. The attack was so fast she had barely seen it coming.

(Author's note: Does Setsuna keep fighting Fate or does she walk away leaving behind the one she loves most? Next chapter coming soon. Read and enjoy.)

**Shinobi of the Onyx Sands**


	5. Chapter 5: The Offer

The impact stunned her, driving the wind out of her lungs. She knew her only option was to run. Fate had stopped toying with her and was going to kill her. "Setsuna, run. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine until you come back. Don't die here." Konoka yelled from where she was tied up. Fate smiled and said, "You should listen to your lover. Oh, and when you see Inugami tell him I have his girlfriend. I'm keeping a hold of her. I'll even throw you a bone. I'll call off Tsukuyomi next time we meet. In fact, let's meet in four days. That should be enough time for you to train. Do we have a deal?"

Setsuna had a hard time suppressing the anger in her voice. "I have no choice. I can't win here. Let me tell you something Fate. When Kotaro finds out about this he will not hesitate to want to kill you where you stand. Four days. Four days and I get Konoka back. I hope you'll be waiting." Tears were starting to roll down her face as she knew she had lost again. The sense of loss was all she felt besides her hate for Fate.

Fate smiled and nodded his agreement. Setsuna sadly looked at Konoka as she walked away. Her anger at her loss was about to be directed full force on someone else. She walked down to where she had left the others and saw them still holding their own against Tsukuyomi. Setsuna immediately stepped into the brawl. Tears of anger and sorrow rolled down her face as she relentlessly assaulted Tsukuyomi. Setsuna went at it with everything, losing herself in the dance of swords. Kotaro and Kaede simply stood there and watched in amazement. Tsukuyomi couldn't hold off Setsuna's attacks. Her sword shattered as Setsuna sliced right through it. Tsukuyomi immediately disappeared without a word.

Setsuna finally let everything out and broke down crying. Kaede and Kotaro couldn't do anything to console her. It was if they had seen what had happened when Setsuna had first lost Konoka to Fate. Kotaro was the first to speak. "Where's Chizuru? Did something happen?" Setsuna had regained enough of her composure to speak haltingly. "I'm sorry Kotaro. Fate has Chizuru. She was captured before the plan could even get off the ground."

Kotaro just stared. His mind simply thought, _'This isn't real. This isn't happening.'_

He yelled aloud, slamming his fist through a wall. "Fate, you are so fucking dead when I get my hands on you. Do you hear that you bastard?! I'm going to kill you!" Blood poured down his fist and tears worked their way down his face. Now he knew how Setsuna felt. That sense of loss was not something you could guess at. It was something you had to feel for yourself.

Kaede felt horrible for the both of them. Such loss was something she had never truly felt before. Sure, she had felt like that before, that sense of hopelessness. She just had no idea how to help anyone currently feeling like that. She would just let them cry it out. Letting go of such feelings was the only real way to deal with them. Kotaro's explosive anger had not surprised her. She had expected something like this would happen. She knew now though that the resolve of everyone else would be more than enough to deal with Fate. Her attention was grabbed by Setsuna who spoke, "Fate wants us to meet him in four days. We have until then to train. Let's get going back to the hotel. We can deal with things there."

They walked back in silence. Everyone was thinking about their own different problems and the one mutual problem that was Fate. Rain slowly began to fall, making the mood that much darker. By the time they reached the hotel it was raining steadily. Walking into the hotel, they slowly walked up to their room. The usually cheerful hotel desk girl didn't speak as she watched them go by; she could sense they were in no mood to be talked to. Setsuna flopped herself onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. She knew that, had she stayed there she would have died but it seemed to her hat it hurt far more to have left Konoka there. Fate taking Chizuru only made things harder. Kotaro wouldn't even speak to either of them. His entire focus was on killing Fate. Setsuna knew that he was letting his anger consume him. She also knew that she would have to wait to tell him anything that could help. Right now, he simply wouldn't listen.

Setsuna had set about planning how she would train. All she needed was a little help. "Kaede,  
Setsuna asked quietly, "Would you be willing to help me train? I need someone who can hold their own against me. Kotaro, you can help too. That way we all train at the same time. I say we start tomorrow, first thing in the morning. We'll train down at the beach. For now though I think we all need to get some sleep and think things through."

Kotaro flopped down onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. Sleep finally found him after a few hours. Kaede had drifted off a while before, sprawled out on the other bed. Setsuna was still awake and looking at the stars out on the balcony. Her thoughts wouldn't let her sleep. Thoughts of what might have been kept going through her mind. She wondered aloud to herself, "What would really have happened had I stayed there and fought. I would have certainly died, I think. Fate had that fight entirely under his grasp and had room to spare. He could afford to not try and still come out on top. How on earth can I be so weak?" She pounded her hand against the rail as her thoughts continued aloud, tears racing down her face. "Is what Evangeline said back then true? Does my happiness make me weak? It should have made me stronger and yet I can't do anything to save Konoka. Nothing I try works and it seems like all I can do is fail to save her. Why do I feel so lost and powerless?" Tears blurred her vision as she cried.

"You're not powerless Setsuna. You just simply lost the only part of you that you had to find to feel complete." Came Kotaro's voice from behind her. "I feel the same way now. There's not a damn thing i can do to get Chizuru back but I know I have to try. I'm going to train harder than I ever have before in my life. I'm doing it not so that I can beat Fate; I know I can't accomplish that. I'm going to train for Chizuru's sake. I'm going to fight for what I love. I hope you do the same. Get some sleep Setsuna. Tomorrow is going to be a rough day." He patted her on the shoulder and then walked back to his bed.

Setsuna smiled slightly at Kotaro's words of encouragement, she certainly needed it. She had taken the presence of her friends for granted in her hunt for Fate. She had thought no one could help her and her ignorance had cost her. She had forgotten to rely on her friends to give her advice. She remembered what Kaede had said to her before. She had only been half listening back then and now she could look at it from a different point of view. She knew that with the help her friends could provide that she had a chance of getting Konoka back. The risk was well worth it and she knew that someone might not walk away from this unharmed and no one would walk away from this unchanged.

Setsuna finally walked back into the room and curled up in the bed Kaede was sprawled in. Sleep for her was fitful at first but sleep soon found her. Her dreams that night were unreal. So lifelike she was certain that it was actually happening.

She was standing in the courtyard of the Shinmei school. Her sword was in her hand and she noticed the sakura petals falling and the breeze ruffle her wings. She didn't recall letting them out but they were out nevertheless. Standing across the courtyard from her was Tsukuyomi. Setsuna was wearing the traditional outfit befitting a Shinmei warrior, while Tsukuyomi was in her usual Lolita style garb. The two were facing off, the tension in the air the only thing letting Setsuna know that at that moment. The scene felt so surreal. She knew it couldn't be real and yet she found herself doubting.

Without her usual banter Tsukuyomi charged, using a from only the masters of Shinmei knew. He long blade swept low as her short blade swung high. Setsuna jumped and rolled sideways in the air. Her movements felt like she was underwater and the whole fight seemed to be in slow motion. Setsuna return attack connected with Tsukuyomi's longer blade. Tsukuyomi smiled and then dissolved into a sword wielding Fate. "You lack the drive and power to kill me. You are worthless and you will never save what you love. Now die!" Fate said as he swung the blade with inhuman speed.

Setsuna awoke instantly in a sweat. She had swore the blade had connected. She was relieved though to find it all a simple dream. Dreams for her were rarely anything more than recalled memory and yet this one was different. It felt as though she had actually lost to Fate again, like her mind was showing her what would have happened had she stayed there and fought him instead of taking his offer. Sweat soaked her clothes straight through. Setsuna felt like a shower was a great idea at that point.

She made sure that everyone was still sound asleep and quietly undressed as she walked into the bathroom where the shower was. She ran the water for a nice cool shower to relax her mind. The cool water ran down her body and it made her think of the shower she and Konoka had shared. Her tears mixed with the water as she cried softly. While it was helping her relax it was also digging up emotional turmoil she had yet to deal with. It was something she knew she would have to deal with one simple step at a time.

She finished her shower and wrapped a towel around herself. Kaede was awake as she watched Setsuna grab her clothes. "Enjoy your shower Setsuna-dono?" Setsuna nodded and Kaede continued, " You got up after tossing around in your sleep for a while. I figured you were having a nightmare and got up to relax in the shower. I sat here thinking about everything. There's a chance we can win but only long enough to get back what we've lost here. Training can only get us so far. We all need to realize just what it is we are truly fighting for here and that knowledge will give us the strength to keep fighting."

"I know Kaede," Setsuna said. "I just need to find out what it really is I'm fighting for here. For now though, let's get some sleep. Kotaro said tomorrow is going to be rough. I think he knows what his reason is but we can worry about that tomorrow. Four days and we can get back what we've lost. Fate has underestimated our resolve." Setsuna smiled and then walked into the bathroom to change before going to bed. She fell asleep with small smile, waiting to see how training tomorrow was going to go.

(Author's note: I had to think this chapter through so it took forever to write. Making the decision to have Setsuna walk away from the fight was so hard to do. Hopefully you will all enjoy how this story is progressing. Read and enjoy.)

**Shinobi of the Onyx Sands**


	6. Chapter 6: Training Day

Surf hit the sand with a dull roar. Setsuna yawned as they watched the sun come over the horizon. They had left the hotel a few hours ago and had gotten down to the beach early to begin training. Kotaro had only said that she should keep her guard up at all times. Setsuna was sitting on the sand watching the sunrise and the waves, almost being put back to sleep by the sound of the surf. Kaede suddenly came out of nowhere and attacked. Setsuna reflexively reacted with hand to hand combat. Kaede was already a step ahead of her and used the Bunshin technique to trap Setsuna among several of her shadow selves.

Setsuna felt at a disadvantage fighting five of Kaede all at once. She was holding her own until Kotaro joined Kaede in the attack. Setsuna gritted her teeth and fought back as hard as she could. A few well placed punches and kicks took out a few of Kaede's clones but a kick to her blindside by Kotaro sent her flying across the sand. Setsuna skipped a couple of times before skidding to a halt. Setsuna let herself go and let her wings out, using them to propel her across the sand. She quickly took out the remainder of Kaede's clones and was now defending herself against just the two of them. She was winning but just barely.

Kotaro was surprised by how well Setsuna was doing. He had thought for sure that the surprise assault would work and they would have beaten her quickly. Yet Setsuna had turned it right back at them and was beating them. The shift in how the battle flowed had happened when he had kicked her across the sand. He mentally checked himself to ask her if that was what had given her enough time to recover and retaliate. He grunted in surprise as Setsuna hit him, sending him to the sand. He hadn't seen her move, which surprised him. He had no idea she was that fast.

Kaede suddenly found herself alone against Setsuna. From where she had stood it had looked like Setsuna had used a partial shundo to move her fist faster than Kotaro could see. He dropped and then suddenly Setsuna was right in front of her, battle light in her eyes. Despite this being a sparring match, Kaede could sense that Setsuna was treating it as an actual fight. 'At least she can do that much', Kaede thought to herself as Setsuna tried her hardest to land a hit on her.

Setsuna moved at such speed that Kaede barely reacted to it. The kick landed square and threw Kaede for distance. Setsuna stood there on the beach breathing heavily. She had won the first sparring match of the day. She smiled as Kotaro spoke to her, "Geez ne-chan go easy on us next time. I think you knocked Kaede out. Where'd you learn shukuchi and how did you get it that close to perfect? I couldn't even see you move. Even Negi can't move that fast and he's fairly quick on his feet."

Setsuna said, "I learned it at the Shinmei Ryu School. That is the first time, however, that I have gotten it near perfect. Fate can do that technique perfectly and without fail at any moment. I fear Shundo may no longer be enough to deal with his speed. Last time we fought it barely saved my life by mere inches. I need to be able to use shukuchi without fail as well. I may not be able to match his speed but I'll be better equipped to dodge. He can see right through a shundo and I suspect he may be able to see through shukuchi as well but it is worth making use of if the need arises. You never know what he's going to use and I could just barely keep up with him. While I was only one step ahead of him, he was dozens of steps ahead of me. That gap needs to be shortened a bit." She sat down for a second and yelled down the beach to Kaede who was beginning to stand up. "You okay Kaede-chan? I tried not to break anything."

Kaede slowly got to her feet and nodded. She walked to where they were and was about to speak when sand exploded around them. Setsuna and Kotaro jumped back. "I'm sorry for the interruption but I'm going to have to reschedule our meeting for right now." Came Fate's sinister voice from out of the cloud of settling sand.

"What? What do you mean? Fate we had a deal." Setsuna yelled.

"Don't you know better than to make deals with an evil person? I hold all the cards today. Your loved ones are in a barrier field up on the boardwalk and this place is shielded so don't worry about holding back for fear of destroying the town. You can attack me with everythi..." His speech was interrupted by Setsuna who had slammed a flat palm into his chest.

"Fine then Fate. Today you lose." Setsuna said with a smile.

Kotaro and Kaede immediately followed Setsuna into the fray. Fate seemed to be bored with their skills and was easily keeping them at a distance. Kotaro managed to land some solid hits on Fate and as he did so was sent flying by an unseen attack. Fate wasn't going to be pulling punches. Setsuna knew exactly how to deal with this fight. She was finally ready for it. The only hitch in her plan was that she hadn't anticipated Fate attacking early.

Fate was surprised by everyone. He hadn't expected they would find this much courage to fight in such a short time. He had decided the moment after Setsuna had left that he would go meet her during training and finish the fight. He had suddenly decided he wasn't about to give his opponent more time. His mind suddenly went back to the current fight. He couldn't afford to be distracted today. He knew that the combined skills of those three were something to be wary of. He was surprised by their ability to break his magic barriers with such ease. He was being forced to rely almost solely on his hand to hand skills. He was fine without most of his longer range spells but it was his close range ones he needed. A sealing charm he hadn't reversed in time had cost him a good portion of his magic and this enraged him.

Setsuna, Kotaro and Kaede were fighting as a fluid team. They were slowly winning against Fate. Kotaro was bleeding though and could barely stand on one leg. Kaede was fine save for a few broken ribs. Setsuna was the worst of them, having absorbed a good majority of Fate's attacks. A broken arm and several cuts made it hard for her to keep going. She could only hope Fate would give up and they could go rescue Konoka.

Fate was losing and he knew it. It was one of only two fights in his life that he knew he stood no chance to win. The other he had tried to forget. He knew that his only way out of this fight was to tell Setsuna Where her beloved Konoka was. He knew Tsukuyomi would be standing guard and that he wouldn't have to personally be there to defend his capture. However he did want to be there to tell Setsuna his reason for doing so. Fate smiled as he let the dust of the fight settle.

"I'll tell you where she is if you stop the fight. In my book, you've won the fight. I promise you both of them if you agree to this. Be warned though. I will not stop Tsukuyomi from doing what I have ordered her to do." Fate said with one of his secretive smiles.

Setsuna thought for a moment and then said, "How can we trust you? You said you were going to give us four days to train and yet here you are not one day later attacking. How can we trust a liar like you? Hell, why should we trust you Fate?"

Fate smiled and said, "Because I am the one holding all the cards. You have to trust me because you have no other choice. You don't have to completely trust me, just enough to get your wife back Sakurazaki-san and your girlfriend Inugami. I'll let you make the decision. My death and no lead as to where your loved ones are or let me live and I tell you exactly where they are. All you have to do is beat Tsukuyomi and listen to my reason for all of this chaos."

Setsuna and Kotaro thought about it and spoke quietly to one another. "I think we have no choice Ne-chan." Kotaro said. "If we kill him we may never find Konoka or Chizuru. If we let him live he leads us right to them. I know that we can beat Tsukuyomi but I don't know if we could do so in our current condition. We will have to try though. I say we let him live, as much as I don't want to."

Setsuna nodded and spoke directly to Fate. "Our answer is that we will let you live this day. Now tell me where Ojou-sama is. No lies this time Fate."

Fate smiled and said, "They are up in the foothills north of town. It should take you about one day to get there. Now then I will take leave of you. I have important matters to attend to." With that he turned and used a gate spell to teleport away after Kaede released the sealing spell.

They all collapsed in the sand tired, broken and bruised. They would have to recover from this fight before taking on Tsukuyomi but they couldn't afford to waste any more time than they already had. Setsuna wanted Konoka back more than anything.

They slowly made their way to the local hospital, knowing that they needed their injuries treated. The medical staff at the hospital were surprised by the condition they were in and remarked how they should all be unconscious let alone alert and standing. Several hours later and more lectures than they cared to remember they walked out of the hospital sporting varying types of bandages. Setsuna's right arm had been broken and was now in a cast.

They made their way to the hotel to spend the night. They were going to head out first thing in the morning. The final battle to get Konoka and Chizuru back could not come fast enough for the three of them. Sitting in their hotel room they all thought about Fate's words. Setsuna wondered to herself about what he had meant by 'his reason for all of this chaos.' Was he trying to say that he did this on purpose as some sort of test or had he done this for some other reason? Setsuna shook her head as she tried to get some sleep. She wouldn't have her answer until tomorrow and she prepared herself for everything.

Kotaro also found himself mulling over Fate's words as he laid there. He simply wondered if Chizuru was right and if that had also been in Fate's plan. Kotaro hated the fact that his girlfriend was trapped by an enemy of his. He knew tomorrow would decide everything.

Kaede sat on the balcony rail looking at the stars and wondering what tomorrow would bring. She knew that Fate always had some other motive for what he did. This was just another of his plans and she could only guess at his reasons why. She walked back into the room and laid on the bed Setsuna was in. She sighed as she tried to sleep. This had to be so hard on the both of them and she felt helpless to help them. Tomorrow, she knew would change them all, for better or worse.

(Author's note: So sorry this took so long to be put up here. Story kind of took a hiatus as I was writing other stories for a class of mine. Still, hope this will be a surprising twist to everything. I hope you read and enjoy this.)

**Shinobi of the Onyx Sands**


	7. Chapter 7: Climb

That morning everyone awoke quickly and immediately got dressed. They knew that today was the fight they had been waiting for. If they finished this they would get Konoka and Chizuru back. Setsuna found that everything hurt. Her whole body was just immersed in pain from yesterday's fight. The doctors who had patched them all up had told them not to do anything strenuous for at least a month. First thing they were doing the next day was hiking halfway across town with the intention of getting some answers and fighting Tsukuyomi.

Kotaro spoke calmly as they walked. "You know. I think this whole thing has been a way for us to grow as fighters as well as people. I can't think of any other time in my life where I've felt this sure about anything. What sucks is that it was Fate who caused all of this to happen. I don't know about you guys but I want to hear his reason for doing all of this. I would preferably like him dead but we aren't that strong yet."

Kaede nodded her agreement. She knew there wasn't much to add to what Kotaro had said. Setsuna quietly said, "We can't lose today. We're not at the top of our game but we have to win. I have a broken arm and Kotaro; you have a few broken bones yourself. Kaede, you're the only one of us that didn't have any serious injury. We're going to need you the most today. I can fight one-handed so I should be fine. We're all going to have to work together like we did yesterday. Konoka and Chizuru are coming back with us no matter what."

Kotaro and Kaede silently agreed. The rest of the hike was spent in relative silence. They stopped and took breaks along the way. Setsuna hadn't reckoned the trip through town would take so long. It was already past midday when they got to the base of the foot hills. Setsuna looked up at the hills and could only see one building. She groaned slightly as she noticed it was halfway up the large hill in front of her. "Well this is going to be fun" Kotaro said sarcastically, noting where the building was.

A surprise awaited them at the bottom. Fate stood there quietly and gave them a thin smile before saying, "It's not too far now. I will give you one warning. Tsukuyomi awaits you halfway between here and the house you saw. Make it there and everything will finally become clear. I'll be waiting for you there. Enjoy your walk." Before anyone could say anything or move Fate vanished in a gate spell.

Kotaro kicked a rock at the sign at the base of the hill that read, '5 miles to halfway house'. Setsuna was equally annoyed by Fate's sudden appearance and disappearance. Knowing where to expect to an attack was good but knowing where didn't help any of them with when. Setsuna wondered when Tsukuyomi would attack once they reached the halfway point to the halfway house. Knowing that would have helped to ease her mind about a lot of things.

The forest at the bottom of the trail was warm, almost tropical. Kotaro complained about how warm it was, saying it was all a part of Fate's evil plan to prevent them getting Konoka and Chizuru back. Setsuna agreed with him. She felt like the hike was going to last forever. Being here at midday was brutal. It was around ninety degrees out and the shade didn't help to cut the heat much. Setsuna felt like she was going to sweat to death.

It was a good thing that there was a stream that followed the trail or else they would have collapsed from dehydration a long time back on the trail. The water was clear and cool. Setsuna had stopped several times to drink out of the stream as did Kotaro and Kaede. They were beginning to wonder exactly how long they had been hiking up the winding path leading up the mountain. Kaede mentioned that it couldn't have been for more than an hour or so since the sun hadn't moved much. The hike was slowly wearing on their resolve to move forward. Setsuna finally had them all take a break.

"We need to keep going no matter how long of a hike this is. Kotaro, you and I have loved ones that need to be rescued and if we fail them they will fell like we let them down when we were needed most. I knew that this path wouldn't be easy and I think that's what fate is trying to get us to realize. Nothing in life should be easy if it is worth having. If you gain something too easily it will be worth less to you in the long run. If we give up here we lose everything we fought for and I don't want that. This whole thing has made me realize exactly what it is I want in my life. I want Konoka to share everyday with me, regardless of how bad things get. Kotaro, I'm sure you're starting to feel the same way about Chizuru and Kaede, I'm sure there's someone you feel this way about as well even if you haven't voiced those feelings. So let's take a couple of minutes to take a break and catch our breath. Tsukuyomi could be anywhere on the way up and we have to be prepared for it."

Kotaro smiled and thanked Setsuna. Kaede nodded her thanks. A voice from above them said, "Well said Sempai. I'm sure that little pep talk will do you and your friends a lot of good in the fight. Of course Fate said not to kill you but beyond that I can do anything I wish with all of you." Tsukuyomi was smiling as she landed in front of them holding her katana.

Setsuna looked at Tsukuyomi in mild surprise. She hadn't expected her to appear so early. Tired as they were from the climb up, Setsuna didn't know how they would fare. Tsukuyomi smiled and slowly walked over to Setsuna. She smiled and gently grabbed Setsuna's face by the chin. "You could make this easy on all of you Sempai. You could just surrender to me, let me have my way with you and then I'll let you go on your way."

Setsuna thought for a moment before replying. She knew that if she lowered herself to that level it would be the end of her solely being for Konoka alone, but if Tsukuyomi won there would be no one to save Konoka. Setsuna sighed slightly and as she started to speak Kaede quietly said to her, "Don't give yourself over to her. We can stand and fight here. It's all a part of Fate's plan I'm sure. It seems to me like he's seeing how loyal you'll be to yourself and Konoka. We can take her no problem, injuries or not."

Setsuna smiled and thanked Kaede. She looked at Tsukuyomi, her stare cold. She drew her sword and said, "I'm not giving myself over to you Tsukuyomi. Not now, not ever. We will stand and fight. I hope you are prepared for this. We have all found something that drives us forward and allows us to overcome our limitations. I can't say what it is exactly for Kotaro and Kaede, but for me it is my love for Konoka and my desire to be with her that gives me my drive. You will not slow us down one bit. We will reach them and settle this with Fate once and for all."

Tsukuyomi merely smiled and then attacked. Her blade swung downward in an arc. She then switched the direction of the swing and halfway through bringing it up, swung down vertically. Setsuna effortlessly blocked the sword and slid her sword down the length of Tsukuyomi's, twisting it around in a circle motion to disarm Tsukuyomi. Tsukuyomi countered the disarming move by imitating the move and disengaging their swords. Kotaro let out one of his ki attacks at her unguarded side and Kaede threw a fuma shuriken at the other. Setsuna saw what the others were doing and tried to keep Tsukuyomi's blade occupied. Tsukuyomi Jumped and somersaulted over Setsuna to dodge the incoming attacks. As Tsukuyomi landed, Kotaro swept her feet out from under her and as she fell, kicked her skyward.

Tsukuyomi had been off guard and Kotaro had surprised her with a shundo. Setsuna and Kaede both jumped up to return Tsukuyomi to ground with a backward spinning kick. The wind was driven out of her as Setsuna and Kaede's kicks impacted. Tsukuyomi watched her vision swim and knew that their teamwork was going to easily defeat her. Kotaro stood underneath where Tsukuyomi was going to fall and knocked her out by spinning her so that she faced downward and driving his knee into her solar plexus. Tsukuyomi was out cold before she hit the ground.

"Hope we didn't kill her." Kotaro said, "That was way too easy. Fate seems to be setting this whole thing up. I don't like it."

"You're not the only one Kotaro-dono." Kaede said as she collected Tsukuyomi's unconscious from and set her down on a flat rock near the edge of the trail.

Setsuna sheathed her blade and they continued the climb. She thought to herself that perhaps Kotaro was right. Maybe Fate had set all of this up. But why had he done it? She pondered that question as they continued up the trail. A sign up ahead told them that it was a mere tenth of a mile to the halfway house. Kotaro let out a sarcastic yell of happiness. Setsuna ignored him and told them they still had a ways to go. After a few more switchbacks, the hut was visible up ahead on the trail. Their goal was in sight and yet it still seemed so far away.

Setsuna smiled and spoke as they approached, "We've reached our goal. It feels like it has taken so long to get here. I feel like months have passed since Konoka was taken when I know it has only been a couple of days. I have to thank the two of you for showing up. If not for you I think I would never have stood a chance. You both have taught me something that I should have learned years ago. Friends are more valuable than anything in the world and having the will to never give up when you're fighting for something you believe in. I want Konoka back more than anything in the world. She is my other half and part of me feels like it is gone without her nearby. Fate has some explaining to do, I don't care if we have to force it out of him. He will tell me exactly what is going on and why."

Kotaro stood there, a slight breeze ruffled his hair. He knew how Setsuna felt and why she was willing to go to such lengths for Konoka. He would do the same for Chizuru. He spoke, the words slow and unsure, "No, Setsuna. I'm the one who should be thanking you. You've shown me how love is more than just the nice gestures, kisses and affection. Love is giving your whole heart over to the other person and having the will to fight for your love. I never knew that before this whole thing unfolded. So thank you for teaching me that lesson."

Setsuna smiled. Kaede also spoke, "We have all gained something from this trip. Even I have gained something. I have gained the desire to tell the one I like how I really feel, although I do not know how they will take it. If they turn me down, I will still know that I tried rather than never letting them know."

Kotaro broke into a smile. Teasingly he asked, "Who's the lucky one that caught your eye?"

Kaede blushed and said, "If you must know it is Yuna Akashi. I find her to be a very spirited and lively person. I like her personality and I think she's pretty."

Both Kotaro and Setsuna were surprised by this. They had figured it would have been Mana Tatsumiya or Ku Fei. While they were all discussing this, Kaede turned further red. They walked into the courtyard of the halfway house. Fate was comfortably seated on a rock and Konoka and Chizuru were both handcuffed to the pillars outside the doorway. "I do so hate to interrupt your happiness but I believe I owe you something for getting this far." Fate said coldly as he stared at the three of them.

(Author's note: Finals killed any time I had to work on this chapter, so I apologize for its vast lateness. The reason I had for pairing Kaede and Yuna is that I didn't want to take the obvious one and just throw it out there. I wanted it to be something that, as a person, Kaede would have to really search her feelings before coming out and saying them. Next Chapter coming soon if all goes well. Read and enjoy.)

**Shinobi of the Onyx Sands**


	8. Chapter 8: Reward

Fate smiled as he watched their faces change from happiness to simmering hate. He got up from the rock he was sitting on and slowly continued where he had left off. "Like I just said, I owe you a reward for getting here. What your reward is will be something none of you expect and yet, once you get it you will see it has been so obvious." He smiled and slowly paced as he spoke, arms behind his back. "You see when this all began I was merely seeing how you would react to it all. Observation and nothing more, but I found you lacking a certain something. Something that would have driven you far past your original bounds. You see, this was all just a game."

Setsuna yelled at him, in a rage at hearing Fate's words. "How dare you call all of this just a game! We all have almost died in our fight to get Konoka and Chizuru back. For you to call this a game is just sick Fate."

Kotaro held her back as she lunged at Fate. "Let's hear him out Setsuna. He's obviously not done showing off. I've seen his schemes now from both sides and I can assure you they are as complex as any magical spell I have ever seen."

"Wise words Inugami." Fate said, "You're right of course, that my plan goes so much farther than any of you could have seen. Even Tsukuyomi doesn't know all of it. You see I have seen you and Konoka grow as a couple. I could even tell you what happened that night on what your school calls Library Island. The High Daylight Walker apparently didn't give you enough training it seems. So I went to test your bond out and found it weak."

Setsuna seethed at his comments. Kaede and Kotaro were holding her back from tearing Fate apart. "You had no right to test me or my bond with Konoka. It is far stronger than even you could realize." She said to Fate in an icy tone.

Fate smiled and said, "Yes, it is indeed strong but not strong enough. I may be what you think of as evil but I am not without reason. I had a purpose for doing this. Had I really done this you would all be dead on the beach where we fought. I held back in that fight and was actually surprised you could hold your own so well. I had no intention of permanently stealing Konoka. After all she has no place in my plans any more. Although do say I know of a few who still do, despite their weaknesses. Take Tsukuyomi for example. She asked you to do something unthinkable and you almost gave into it. If not for you friend, the ninja you would have failed that part of my test and this 'madness' as you call it would continue to go on until you found it's true purpose."

Setsuna stared at the ground and then at Fate. It was Kotaro who voiced everyone's thoughts. "Why test all of us? Even though Kaede didn't have anyone here with her, you still tested us all. I was tested by seeing Setsuna's heartbreak myself when you took Chizuru. I was made to understand. You wanted me to feel what someone else was feeling."

Fate smiled and said "Correct. Kaede, was it? What purpose do you think I tested you for?"

Kaede spoke quietly, "I was tested as being the supportive one. I was not to totally understand but my natural empathy was supposed to make me the caring one. It was also to help me see how I should deal with the one I care for most and how to approach my feelings to her."

Fate said, "Correct once more. Setsuna. I will tell you the reason you were tested and I hope you take my word for it. I'm being honest here. You were being tested to see if you could rely not only on your resolve to see Konoka returned to you but also to see if you would rely on your friends. I may not seem like a person who would knows this but I am. Those around you are often the most helpful and the world around you would fall apart without them around. I did not do this without telling anyone. Negi knows full well of my plan here. It was I who suggested he send Kotaro and the two girls along. He told me he did not trust me at all but I told him it was the only way his friends would see the light of their failures. He made me swear in a magic oath not to kill you. It was Evangeline who cast that spell and told us both that if it were violated the consequence was death. Negi couldn't interfere with my plan and I couldn't kill any of you. It was that simple."

The three of them looked at Fate in shock. Setsuna didn't believe him at first. Negi couldn't have let this just happen, but it did explain why none of them were dead. She knew that they could never have won against Fate in an even fight. Things that hadn't added up in her head before now were. She couldn't believe it had all been planned and thought out. She had thought that Fate had simply captured Konoka for one of his twisted schemes. She spoke and controlled herself well enough so that Kaede and Kotaro no longer had to hold her back. "You might say it was simple but that is a really complex plan Fate. It must have taken some time to plan it all out. I don't think I'll forgive you for stealing Konoka away from me no matter what the reason is. You might have just given us all the mightiest weapon of all against you. Did you think about that?"

"Oh yes, I did." Said Fate, "I thought out every eventuality of this. I had plans for what I would do if you failed on certain parts or succeeded in earlier ones. Had you realized what I had been up to earlier I would have not needed to take Chizuru hostage. Kotaro would have gained nothing of course and would have been none the wiser afterward, Kaede may have gained something by that point but you hadn't realized why everything was happening. So I gave you an option. Stay and fight or retreat and train, relying on your friends to help. You chose the correct one. Had you stayed and fought I would have beaten you senseless and it would have left you unable to finish the test for some time. However by choosing to retreat and train you gave me the opportunity to take Chizuru and test Kotaro. I interrupted your training because I wanted you to at least learn where I had relocated. Had you lost you would have gained nothing and I would have come back the next day to fight again and would have repeated it until you got the point of it. You had to rely on those around you to win. You did and so I told you where we were hiding."

Setsuna, Kotaro and Kaede had all taken a seat as Fate talked. Fate had done the same and his eyes watched them as they listened intently to his grand scheme. Kotaro was amazed by how well thought out the whole thing was. Kaede just sat there and contemplated the whole thing, mulling it over in her head. Setsuna quietly said, "So you had every move planned out and had even planned for all outcomes? How long had you had this all planned? It had to have taken weeks."

Fate smiled and said, "No. I had the whole thing planned out the day I took Konoka. I wanted it to seem as real as possible for you. I didn't want you to catch on to my plan too early. After all, it works better the longer it lasts. You and your friends came up with the realization while on the way here right?"

Setsuna nodded her reply and Kotaro said, "Yeah, we all realized it when Tsukuyomi attacked us. We beat her so quickly that it seemed to us to be all a part of some plan. That and the fact that you told us you would tell us the whole reason behind this. Of course we immediately all thought it was going to be another one of your 'take over the world' schemes, but as we finished beating Tsukuyomi I think we all realized that that couldn't be the real reason. That, there had to be more to the whole thing than met the eye. Now we know we're right. "

Fate nodded and said, Now that you all have realized what relationships really are and how it is not just hose you love but your friends that you need around you I can say that you did well in this test. As I promised, Konoka and Chizuru will be released. One more thing though, before I leave. Setsuna, you have grown the most out of all of you. Kotaro, work on searching out how others feel. Finally Kaede. Trust is hard to give and receive but you have to be willing to give before you can receive. Use your heart and then your head and you'll be just fine in life. They're released to you now and a warning to you all. Next time I see you there will be no kid gloves. You will face me at my strongest and receive no mercy from me."

Setsuna spoke, smiling for the first time in a while, "Thanks for the warning Fate. The same goes to you. I also thank you for holding up your end of our bargain."

Fate snorted at her comment and vanished, the spells he had placed around Chizuru and Konoka vanishing with him. Konoka ran across the courtyard and jumped into Setsuna's arms kissing her fiercely. "Se-chan I've missed you so much. I knew that everything would turn out ok in the end but there were times I wasn't sure. I'm sorry for doubting you."

"It's ok Konoka." Setsuna said with a big smile. "We're all back together now. I think this calls for a night out on the beach when we get back to town."

Kotaro and Chizuru were lost in a kiss and Kaede was lost in thought as they all stood there in the evening light. The sunset painted the town a shimmering golden red. Konoka and Setsuna kissed and hugged each other tightly. Their ordeal was finally over. They had finally been reunited and now the sunset was showing them the most beautiful scene any of them had ever seen. As they all sat in the courtyard watching the sunset, Kaede walked a little ways a way an pulled out her cell phone and slowly dialed a number. It rang four times before someone picked up. Kaede tried her best to keep her voice even and smooth, "Hey, Yuna, This is Kaede. Look, I've been meaning to ask you something. I know this is going to sound odd, but, when I get back. Would you go out with me on a date?"

A few minutes later and Kaede returned to where everyone was watching the last of the sunset. She got their attention and said, "I just called Yuna. I asked her out and then told her how I felt about her. She said she'd be delighted to go out with me on a date and let me tell her in person how I feel. I'm nervous about the whole thing."

Setsuna smiled and said, "Don't be Kaede. The first date is always the hardest but it gets easier with time. Just be yourself and nothing should go wrong."

Kaede smiled and thanked her. They all got up and walked down the trail in the moonlight. The walk back to the hotel was going to take a while but tomorrow was going to be fun and for once they didn't have to worry about Fate hanging over them. The night air was cool and the breeze gentle. Everyone thought about their experience over the past few days and then realized Fate had been right. His plan had been obvious once they had seen it. It was close to sunrise by the time they made it back to the hotel. Setsuna smiled and told them as they walked into the door. "Tomorrow, we're going to go out on the beach and have fun. We can finally just relax."

(Author's note: This one wrote itself in a hour or so. Much faster than the previous two. I think it just all fell into place one Fate started to explain it all. Fate leaves the story but it won't end here. I've only got plans for about four more chapters though. Obvious things to come. Hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it.)

**Shinobi of the Onyx Sands.**


	9. Chapter 9: The Beach

Sunlight poured into the window of their hotel room as the sun rose. No one was really in the mood to move. The night before had been interesting. Konoka had healed everyone with what spells she knew, so they were all feeling much better. Setsuna shifted in the sheets almost jumping at the sensation of another under the covers with her. She relaxed when she realized it was Konoka, who was in her night clothes. Setsuna ran a hand down her side and felt Konoka stir. She quietly said, "Good morning Konoka. It looks like today is going to be another picture perfect day. No Fate coming to snatch you away. Nothing between us and the beach except that sleepy head Kotaro, his girlfriend and Kaede. They all need to get up and dressed but we should beat them to it and wake them up."

Konoka nodded as she yawned and stretched. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she rolled out of bed. Setsuna was already getting dressed for the beach. A day of relaxation never sounded so good in all of her life. She finished getting dressed. She was going to wear the outfit Evangeline had given her before the wedding when she had been forced into twelve days of hard training. She saw Konoka pulling on the swimsuit she had brought with her. It was a sexy little bikini she had worn on many occasions. Setsuna thought that it looked better on her today than it had at any other point in time. After they had finished getting dressed the first person they woke up was Kaede who the gestured to be quiet and to get dressed for the day. Kotaro and Chizuru were still asleep. Kotaro was on his back, arms and legs spread out and Chizuru had cuddled up with him, using his body as a pillow. Setsuna smiled and quietly told everyone her plan to wake them up.

Setsuna smirked as she took in a breath and then yelled, "Help Kotaro! Kaede has run off with my wife!!"

Kotaro jumped out of the bed and almost his skin all in one motion. Half awake he said, "Don..worry I got it!" He tripped over the bed sheets and fell. Chizuru smiled after being awoken so suddenly. "Kota-kun I think they're just pulling your leg to get you out of bed."

He grumbled as he got up off the floor. "Yeah well they could've told me to just get up. I would've gotten up. But no..Setsuna has to go all loud yells and fake cries for help to get me out of bed and make me make a fool of myself. Great job Ne-chan."

Setsuna, Konoka and Kaede had been laughing at the whole scene. After they had calmed down enough they told the two of them to get dressed and to meet them in the lobby. Kotaro grumbled a bit more and then went off to grab his swimming trunks. Chizuru smiled and followed suit. Setsuna, Konoka and Kaede did not have to wait long for Kotaro and Chizuru. They were all soon talking about the past few days as they headed out of the hotel and toward the beach.

The sun hit them as soon as they got outside. It was a gorgeous day and the sky couldn't have been any clearer. The crowds of people walking down the streets were bustling with talk and idle chatter about the weather. The beach was only a couple of blocks away from the hotel but in the heat the distance felt longer. Even though it was first thing in the morning the temperature had already hit seventy degrees. It was shaping up to be a record breaking day, the forecast the night before had been for one-hundred plus by noon. As they made their way onto the beach the sand scorched their feet as they walked to the water. They all jumped right in after leaving their towels up in the dry sand. The water was cool and felt great in the heat. Setsuna enjoyed diving into the wave and trying to cut them with chi as she did so. Kotaro ran out on top of the water until he was sure it was over his head and then jumped in. Chizuru and Konoka waded in through the surf. Kaede raced Kotaro out and did a spinning jump into the water.

Below the surface of the water it was quiet and the light was a deep azure color. Light beams filtered in through the surface as they all swam out to a nearby reef. The reef was about fifty feet from the shoreline and about twenty feet down. They all stopped above it and took a breath before diving down. The water got colder the deeper they went , but on such a hot day they didn't mind. The reef teemed with fish of all colors and kinds. The was a couple of small sharks that could be seen lower down and a small turtle lazily made its way by. Setsuna was surprised by all of the variety of life here. And could see Konoka smiling and pointing at the turtle. Kaede and Chizuru were exploring the reef itself and Kotaro was keeping a look out for sharks. The water was so clear that the only thing preventing Setsuna from seeing further was the light didn't reach far enough.

Fish swam around her in colorful circles. She went over to Konoka who was inspecting a large Coral. The Coral was bright pink and stood out among the yellows and oranges. Setsuna thought that it was unusual but paid it no mind. Kotaro, Kaede and Chizuru all swam up to them and gestured toward the surface. They all went up and after taking a few breaths Kotaro spoke. "We found a small shipwreck on the edge of the reef about ten yards from here. We should go check it out for treasure. Who knows, we might get lucky and find a ton of gold and jewels."

Setsuna nodded in agreement. Konoka smiled at her and said, "Sounds interesting Kotaro-kun. How big is the ship?"

Kotaro smiled and said, "It looks like one of the old ships that the Americans used when they first came here. Chizuru thinks it might have been a pirate ship at one point in time. I'm inclined to agree with her after seeing the inside of the ship through one of the windows."

Setsuna and Konoka both looked at each other and agreed with Kotaro and they all followed him down to the ship. He was right, it was an old Galleon style sailing ship. It looked like it had been sunk in a battle of some sort, judging by the holes that could be seen that were torn into the hull. Kotaro directed them into the ship using hand signs and gestured that he wanted them to explore it as fully as possible. Fish swirled in and out of the ship. The turtle had followed them over from the reef and was watching as they swam into the ship. Setsuna slowly made her way through the ship's corridors. A shark silently swam past her, paying her no mind as she went further into the ship. Scattered gold coins littered the floor of the room she had just entered. Konoka, who had been following her smiled and gestured toward the coins. Setsuna soon had a pocket full of the gold coins and was working her way through the room.

Down a deck, Kotaro and Chizuru were helping Kaede open a trap door to the lowest deck. Years of salt had corroded the door shut and Kotaro had to use a ki blast to open it. As they swam in the realized what it was on front of them. Piles of gold and silver coins filled the room about halfway to the ceiling. Kotaro smiled like a little kid who has entered toy store for the first time. He gestured to Chizuru and Kaede to pick up as many as they could carry. They would have to make sure to remember this room and come back for more coins. After Kotaro filled his pockets he followed Chizuru and Kaede out of the room. They silently swam through the ship and toward the surface.

Setsuna and Konoka had explored the room a bit more an decided it was time to go up to the surface for air and to check if the others had found anything. She had to nudge the small turtle that had been interminably following them out of her way before she could leave the room and head up to the surface. They slowly made their way to the surface, noticing that the rest of the group was already there. Setsuna spoke after she broke the surface. "We found the Captain's room. Coins were everywhere. What did you guys find?"

Kotaro smiled and said, "Nothing much. Just the entire ship's hold full of gold and silver. We should head for shore and see what it is we've found."

Setsuna nodded and they all headed in toward the beach. They had only been underwater for a couple of minutes and already they had found a good amount of treasure. Now all they had to do was to find out where the treasure came from. They walked back onto the beach, Kotaro and Setsuna's pants making clinking noises from all the coins they had. The headed up to where they had left their towels and put all the treasure out on one of the towels. Setsuna picked up one of the gold coins and made out writing on it she couldn't read. She mused about it for a second before handing it to Kotaro saying, "I think the writing on it is either really old English or Spanish. What do you think it says on it?"

Kotaro looked at it for a moment before saying, "I have absolutely no idea. This is Bookstore and Yuekichi's territory. We'd have to ask one of them to see if they could find anything out."

Setsuna sighed and looked at more of the coins. The silver ones were the only ones that looked familiar to her. It was a Piece of Eight coin. She recalled the name of it but couldn't place if she had heard it from a history lesson or television. She decided to count all they had and proudly said, "We've got Seventy of the gold ones and close to ninety of those silver ones. If we sold just this much we'd be rich, not to mention what still on that ship. We need to go get gear to go get more of this. We can't pass up an opportunity to get some easy money."

Kotaro, Chizuru, Kaede and Konoka all smiled at one another. If they managed to pick that ship clean they would be set for a long time. Images of what they would do with the money they would get for this flashed through their heads. Kotaro thought of settling down and living in a nice house. Kaede thought of her future as well. Chizuru thought about going into college to become a cook. Konoka thought about being happily with Setsuna for the rest of their lives. Konoka answered for all of them. "That sounds like a great idea Se-chan. We'll have to find somewhere save to store the treasure while we collect it though. A boat of our own would do the trick if we can get one."

Setsuna smiled and said, "Good idea. Alright everyone. We're going into town and buying what we need with what we get from this pile of coins. We'll need scuba gear, bags to carry the gold back up to the surface, a boat to store our stuff and we'll also need food for breaks and such. This will definitely be an adventure. I'm still so happy that we don't have to deal with Fate anymore. This is so much better than having to worry about what's coming next. Anyway, let's get going. We need to find someone who'll pay top dollar for our treasure and we'll also need to find out where to get what we need. Let's go treasure hunting!"

They all cheered and collected up all the gold and silver before heading off the beach. It was going to be one interesting treasure hunt.

(Author's note: Massive change in gears here. From fighting Fate to treasure hunting! For all you die-hard Akamatsu-sensei fans you should know who the turtle in this chapter is. For those that don't, it's Tama-chan from Love Hina. Hopefully you all enjoyed reading this chapter. Next chapter coming soon.)

**Shinobi of the Onyx Sands.**


	10. Chapter 10: Treasure

The smell of sand and surf covered the whole town as they looked for someone they could sell their treasure to. Setsuna wondered for a moment as to where to go and settled on a local treasure shop. The bell over the door dinged as Setsuna , Konoka, Kotaro, Chizuru and Kaede walked in. The shop keeper looked up and she said, "Welcome to my humble little treasure store. Buying or selling?"

"Selling." Setsuna said, "I've got something that might spark your interest." She flourished one of the gold pieces at the shop keeper.

The shop keeper gasped in surprise and said, "How many of those you got? I'll pay you fifty thousand yen for each one of those."

Setsuna smiled as she had everyone show all the treasure they had found. The woman behind the counter smiled as she saw all the gold and silver. A few minutes of counting out how many of each there were and figuring out how much they would get the shop keeper said slowly, "Well to pay you in full you'll have to come with me to the bank. You've got about five million yen worth of gold and silver. Where on Earth did you find all of this treasure? Most tourists only find one or two gold coins washed up on shore."

Setsuna smiled and said, "We'll be back with ten times that amount easily in three days time. Where we found it isn't something I'm going to say. We'll follow you over to the bank so you can pay us. I'm surprised by how much this stuff is worth."

The shop keeper smiled and said, "Everyone says that. My price is set by how much gold is and the fact that these coins are collectors' items. I'm probably one of the few honest treasure merchants out here. A guy just down the road from my shop only pays ten thousand per coin and he won't take silver ones. A my place you get about twenty thousand for each silver one you bring me. If you can really bring me that much treasure I'll gladly pay for it."

As they walked through the streets to the bank the shop keeper told them all about what they had found. They had come across Muromachi period gold coins. The coins they had found were European, which told Setsuna why she couldn't read the writing on the coin as it was in antiquated English. The shop keeper kept going on about how uncommon this type of treasure was and that finding it in the amount they mentioned would be a one in a million chance. The shop keeper mused that it could have been an insanely rich Lord or even a pirate that sank all those years ago. The group listened to her musings and facts as they walked toward the bank.

Kotaro sighed as the shop keeper finally stopped talking. They entered the bank and the shop keeper told them to wait in the lobby while she got the money necessary to pay them. They all talked about what they would going to do with everything they would be getting out of this find. Kotaro was the only one who said anything negative, "Doesn't this seem a little too easy? Even though we're in Kyushu, I've never read about a ship sinking offshore with a ton of gold in its hold. You think something like that would be recorded in the history books."

Setsuna dismissed him with a wave of her hand. They had money coming to them and that was all she needed to know. Thinking that the treasure might be something more than just a lucky find was something she didn't want rattling around in her mind. She was already thinking of how to spend what money there were getting for the gold and silver. Konoka was smiling at her in her usually cute manner. Setsuna walked over to where Konoka had sat down and gave her a kiss, hoping the shop keeper wouldn't be much longer.

A few minutes later the shop keeper returned, her hands filled with money. She handed the money to Setsuna who handed over the treasure. The shop keeper told them to keep her in mind for any future treasure sales. Setsuna smiled and thanked her and they all walked out of the bank back out into the hot streets. Kotaro was the only one who was voicing some concern over the ease of the whole thing. Chizuru was trying to get him to see it in a positive light as they walked. Kaede was talking with Setsuna. "So, Setsuna-dono I take it that the first stop for us will be the marina to purchase a boat. We'll need that first as a platform from which to launch the rest of our scheme, If I can suggest it, something small but efficient would be good. I don't think we'd need anything we could sleep on since I doubt we'd spend the night on the ship."

Setsuna nodded and said, "Yeah I know. I was thinking that anyway. After all we still have the hotel for a few more days. I figure it should take us at least two days to clean out that ship unless a storm hits or something goes horribly wrong. Next stop after the docks will be a shop where we can get the gear we'll need. We'll figure that out when we get to the shops though. We should have enough money to get everything and still have enough left over to pay for any extra nights at the hotel. When this is all said and done we should have enough money to pay for school for the rest of our lives. Heck, there should be some left over even after that. That shop keeper was saying that the treasure would put us in the hundreds of millions, if not billions of yen. We'd all be set for a long time."

Konoka spoke quietly after she had finished counting the money, "I think Kotaro has a point though. This did seem a little too easy. I'm not complaining about it, not at all. I'm just think we should be careful. Even though Fate isn't around anymore it doesn't mean we're free and clear from dangerous stuff. Who knows, Eva-chan could be behind this to teach us another lesson. After all she seems to have been the source of trouble for those in Ala Alba. She seems hell bent on training us for every eventuality. I doubt you've forgotten those days out in Eva-chan's desert."

Setsuna nodded, "Yeah I remember them. I just don't think Evangeline is behind this."

"You don't think who is behind this?" came a voice from behind them.

They all turned to see Chizuru and Kotaro standing there. They had just walked up behind them. Kotaro had been the one to speak. Setsuna turned to face him and smiled saying, "Oh nothing. Konoka just thinks Evangeline might be behind us fining the treasure and that it's another one of her tests."

Kotaro laughed, "Yeah like Evangeline would go out of her way to come all the way to Kyushu and dump a ship in the ocean. I know she's crazy but she's not going to go that far out of her way to give us a test. No what I meant when I said it felt too easy was that shop keeper seemed too eager to buy our stuff. That was what really gave me a bit of concern. I wasn't even thinking that side of it. I didn't mean to give you guys any real reason to worry."

Setsuna sighed. At least her fears were unfounded as far as what Kotaro had meant. Still the thought that the shop keeper might be up to something didn't sit well in her mind. The thought was soon put farther back in her mind as they approached the marina. Everyone seemed to have made her the unofficial leader of the group, so it was up to her how to spend what money they had. The knowledge that they would only need something to get them out there and to hold their treasure on the way in as well as any gear they would bring out with them.

After a few minutes of Searching Setsuna found the owner of several small boats and offered him eight hundred thousand yen for one of his smaller boats. The owner looked at her with a surprised face. He spoke saying, "How in the world is such a young girl like yourself going to afford to pay me that much? Hell, you must still be in high school. You'd be paying me off for the rest of your life kid."

Setsuna smiled and held out the required money in ten thousand yen notes. "How about I pay you all of it right now and not have to worry about owing a thing?"

The owner had a shocked expression on his face. "Well I guess I can't refuse you if you've got it all right here. Alright the boat's yours then. Treat it well. Name of the ship is Kio. Thanks you for your business."

Setsuna smiled and thanked him for the boat. The Kio was a small craft, about 18 feet in length. It was exactly what she had been looking for. Kotaro smiled and said, "While you guys go and get the rest of our stuff, Chizuru and I'll stay here with the boat. I do have a good question though. Do any of us really know how to captain a ship? I know this is just a small fishing boat but somebody still has to know how to run the thing."

Kaede was the one who answered his question. "Kotaro-dono, I know how to run the boat so there's no worry there. Our only concern now is that we only have is getting back out there and getting everything up that we can. With any luck there won't be any interruptions."

He nodded and Setsuna waved as Konoka, Kaede and her walked back into town. They spent time in several shops gathering the supplies they would need. Konoka and Kaede discussed how things would be run on the ship while Setsuna made sure they were setting good rules. The whole day had seemed to have gone right by. By the time they got to the ship it was almost sunset. Kotaro and Chizuru were sitting on the boat watching the sunset. Chizuru had her head on Kotaro's shoulder and he had an arm around her waist. Sitting there they were silhouetted against the orange-red color of the sky. Setsuna smiled at the two of them. She looked at Konoka and gave her a kiss. The setting was as perfect as it could get.

They set down the gear on the ship and Setsuna spoke. "Alright, we have everything we're gonna need for tomorrow. Now everyone has something important to do tomorrow. Kaede, Kotaro and myself are going to be the ones diving and bringing stuff back up. Chizuru and Konoka will take what we bring up and put it in the hold as well as make us lunch when we get hungry. Beyond that there's nothing more anyone really needs to do. Watch out for sharks and other dangerous animals. This should be far easier than anything else we've done these past few days."

Kotaro, Chizuru, Kaede and Konoka all nodded as they listened to their job assignments. Kaede also knew she was going to be the one who piloted the ship from the dock to where the wreck was and back in. They all made their way back to the hotel as the stars started coming out. Outside the hotel someone ran up to them. She jumped and hugged Kaede as the rest of them watched with stunned expressions. It was Yuna. She smiled as she held onto Kaede. "Guess what? I came here to surprise you. I didn't feel like waiting until you got back to be with you as your girlfriend."

Kaede stood there with a surprised look on her face. She hadn't been expecting this, but then again this whole trip had been filled with unexpected things.

(Author's note; Well this one is kinda bland seeing as it's basically just a launch pad for the next chapter. Hopefully the mysterious shop keeper was entertaining. Yuna joins the crew for the home stretch. She has no idea what's in store. Read and enjoy as you always should.)

**Shinobi of the Onyx Sands**


	11. Chapter 11: Dive

The arrival of Yuna had surprised hem all but they had taken it in their stride. Kaede was smiling like a little kid since the night before. The six of them had all spent the night curled up with the one they loved and cared for. Setsuna and Konoka had gone out to the boat early to get things ready. They finished getting everything set and sat on the boat talking while they waited. Setsuna was talking about what to do after they went back home.

"I don't know how everything is going to be once we get out of high school. We're married and we should be thinking about what the future has in store." Setsuna said. "I mean, There's things like a place to live to think about, whether or not we will need to have jobs. I'm just a bit concerned about how we'll be living ten years from now. I know we'll still be together and always will be but I want you to be happy, that's all."

Konoka smiled and gave her a kiss. "I know you do. That's why I love you so much. You're always ten steps ahead of where we are now. I know this probably won't ease your mind too much but I can say this much to try." She paused for a second and then continued, "As long as I am with you I will always be happy. I can't think of anything more I could possibly want. Well, there is one thing." She lowered her voice to a whisper as she leaned toward Setsuna, "You, naked on a bed, begging me to do everything to you."

Setsuna smiled at Konoka's ability to turn a serious conversation into a sexual one. She kissed Konoka with passion and said, "Your wish is my command, princess."

The two of them wanted to go at it right then and there but the sight of Kaede and Yuna walking up to the boat curbed their desire for each other temporarily. Yuna smiled and waved with her one free hand. The two of them were carrying packs of gear that had been packed early that morning. For the most part the packs simply contained a change of clothes and towels. Kaede was happier than Setsuna had seen her in quite some time. Maybe this vacation would end in just the right way for everyone who had turned up at the end of it all. Still, now and again the words of Fate still came back to mind reminding them that things could only ever be close to perfect if they tried to make it that way.

Kotaro and Chizuru were the last to show up. They carried with them food and drinks for lunch later that day. Kotaro was already in his swim trunks and as soon as he set his portion of the food down jumped off the pier into the water. He broke the surface after being underwater for a bit. "Water's going to be perfect today, what with it shaping up to be hotter than yesterday." He hauled himself back up onto the pier and continued, "So it's Setsuna, Kaede and myself diving to the wreck right? The rest of you are staying closer to the ship if not on it."

Setsuna nodded and said, "Right. We'll try and bring up everything we can in one day. When I told the shop owner ten times the amount we brought her yesterday I wasn't really joking. There's probably way more than that. It would take us a lot longer than we have left here, seeing as we all are headed back to Mahora tomorrow morning. I'm gonna hate not being able to spend a day like this, just doing something interesting but Negi will want us back. I think he has some plan to find his dad in the magical world. So we'll get what we can today and we'll have to come back to this place as soon as we get a chance to finish the job."

Everyone nodded in assent. They all found a place to sit on the boat as Kotaro untied it from the pier and Kaede led it out to where the wreck was. The trip out was short and they were soon near where they all recalled the wreck being. Setsuna, Kaede and Kotaro all grabbed the bags they would be putting their gold and silver into . Setsuna spoke to everyone that was staying with the boat, "If one of us doesn't come up with the others, well don't worry. It will just mean one of us was farther inside the ship or are getting more gold. Either way don't worry if someone is a little late getting back to the surface. Kaede, Kotaro, we should come back up to drop stuff off regularly. Well, that's the plan for that. Konoka, Chizuru, Yuna, you guys can swim around the boat if it gets too hot but don't follow us out to the wreck. Don't forget, we'll all be coming up for lunch around noon. I've got Konoka's watch so I don't lose track of time. Alright, let's get going. Time to go treasure hunting again."

The group cheered and Kotaro jumped in, followed by Kaede and Setsuna. The girls on the boat were wishing them good luck as they dived toward the wrecked ship. The bright sun made seeing underwater easy and they swam toward the ship at an even pace. Fish, sharks and the turtle they had seen there before were all swimming in and out of the ship as Setsuna, Kotaro and Kaede got closer. They each signaled which part of the ship the other was going to be in before splitting up. Setsuna was going to go back to the captain's cabin. She swam toward it and found the floor still littered with gold and silver coins. She got as many as her two bags could hold. She found that the weight of the bags were robbing her of neutral buoyancy and dragging her down. She focused her ki to swim back to the surface and saw Kotaro and Kaede also on their way up. She could see that both of them were having as much of a hard time as she was.

They all broke the surface and quickly put what they had on board the boat and got up on the deck. Setsuna smiled as they all emptied the bags out into a box they had brought with them. IN just one trip they had easily tripled what they had brought up yesterday. Kotaro and Kaede were catching their breath as Konoka said, "Well that's a good start. Two or three more trips like that and we'll have more than enough for a long time. Take as long of a break as you guys need, that gold looked heavy. I see now why you only wanted the three of you to go. It would have been far too much for the rest of us."

Setsuna was slowly regaining her breath. It was surprising how hard this was on her. Normally she would have no problem with how heavy those bags had been but the fact that she was underwater multiplied the difficulty. As soon as she felt rested she asked, "Kotaro, Kaede, you guys rested enough to go back down for another trip? After that we can come up for lunch and to rest a bit more."

Kotaro and Kaede both nodded and they all set out for the ship again. If it hadn't been as hot as it was the girls back on the boat would have stayed on the boat. As the three went down to the sip Yuna said to Konoka, "It's hot. I'm going for a swim and you're going in with me."

Konoka looked at her i surprise as Yuna jumped off the boat carrying Konoka with her. The water felt nice and cool, so Konoka didn't complain about being forced into swimming. She wished that they could stay here for a bit longer. This place was just so wonderful. She knew though that what Negi needed them for was far more important. She swam back to the boat and got back up on the deck. Yuna was still playfully swimming around in the water. Konoka felt Chizuru put a hand on her shoulder, "You know. This place is different than anywhere I've ever been. I think that when both of us were captured by Fate we learned something. To be with someone you love is far better than where you are with them. Setsuna is very blessed to have you as her wife."

Konoka smiled and said, "Thanks Chizuru. It seems that Fate taught us more than he thought he did. I wonder how much he really believes what we found out. Kotaro once said that Fate simply uses other for his own ends. I don't think he ever really relies on anyone other than himself. Regardless of that though as far as we've seen it looks like the gap between him and Negi hasn't gotten any smaller. I hope Negi is ready to face that fact."

Chizuru simply replied, "Negi is Negi. He knows how much stronger he needs to be in order to fight Fate." She paused as Setsuna, Kaede and Kotaro broke the surface, "Welcome back you guys." She said in a cheerful tone.

The three of them put their filled bags up on the deck and collapsed. Setsuna felt exhausted after hauling up more gold. After she caught her breath for the second time that day she said with a smile, "Lunch going to be ready soon? I'm getting hungry. After lunch I think one more trip should do it. All of us brought up twice what we did the first trip down."

Konoka smiled and she and Chizuru started to make lunch. Yuna finally got out of the water and sat next to a very tired looking Kaede. Kotaro lay sprawled out on the deck, his eyes shut. Setsuna was simply sitting down on the deck. The box they were putting the gold into was already a little more than two thirds full. She smiled as she knew this trip was going to end well. Kotaro suddenly spoke saying, "You know we should just take this tuff right to the bank and sell it there. There was something shifty about that shop keeper that keeps coming back to my mind. It's just a feeling of mistrust more than anything else. It's up to you, Setsuna as to what we do with this gold. I just don't trust that merchant."

Setsuna thought about it for a moment and then said, "We'll see what we would get at the bank for it first. Then if the bank says we won't get much we'll see what the shop keeper says. Like I said though. This next dive is the last one for the trip."

Kotaro grunted his agreement and then Chizuru announced lunch was ready. They all ate ramen that Chizuru had made. It was filling and tasted amazing. Everyone complimented her on her cooking. Setsuna, Kaede and Kotaro all got ready for the last trip down to the ship. Konoka stopped Setsuna before she jumped back into the water. Konoka smiled and gave Setsuna a kiss. "Good luck kiss for the last trip." She said smiling.

Setsuna smiled back and jump off the boat. The three of them had decided that the hold where the majority of the gold was. That was going to be where they all went for the last trip. They all swam as fast as they could without burning themselves out. They finally found themselves down in the hold. They all set about gathering up as much as they could into their bags. Setsuna noticed how much less gold the room had as they set out of the room to head back to the surface. They all had to put everything they had into swimming back up. The gold they carried was weighing them down so much that if they hadn't all been trained in the use of Ki they would have drowned. Once back above the surface they all put their bags of gold and silver up on the deck. As they climbed aboard Setsuna said in an out of breath tone, "Alright, time to head for home you guys."

(Author's note: Well one more chapter to go. Hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter. Enjoy. Next chapter to come as soon as I write it.)

**Shinobi of the Onyx Sands.**


	12. Chapter 12: The Return Home

The boat made its way back toward the pier. Everyone was talking about how much money this trip would make. There were occasional mentions of how everyone had to gather their stuff up before heading home. It seemed hard for Setsuna to believe they were all going back to Mahora after this. She smiled as she remembered how all this had simply started as her honeymoon. It was definitely going to be something she never forgot. Konoka leaned on her shoulder as they both sat watching the boats go by. Kotaro was heard talking to Chizuru, their voices coming from up in front. Yuna and Kaede were silently up by the wheel as Kaede guided the ship in. Konoka smiled up at Setsuna and said, "You know, when we graduate from Mahora we should come and live here. It is such a pretty place. Not half as pretty as you though. Life's going to change a bit from here on out isn't it?"

Setsuna nodded and said, "It sure will. We're married now, I think at least one couple is getting stronger and another is just starting. Asuna's gonna pitch a fit when we all get home. She'll probably yell at us for acting like Negi-sensei."

Konoka laughed and then gave Setsuna a hug and a kiss. "I bet she will. I do know one thing we'll have to do when we get home."

Setsuna smirked and lowered her voice so no one would overhear, "I'll be sure to follow any of your wishes when we get home. I know we could use the alone time."

The two smiled at each other. They had said everything they needed to in just those few words. The boat finally came to a stop as they reached the pier and tied off the boat. They all got off the boat and Kotaro and Chizuru handed down the chest full of gold and silver to Kaede and Setsuna. Setsuna had already made up her mind to go to the local bank with their find first to see if they would get more for it there than if they sold it to the merchant who had told them what they had found.

The walk into town took them a while. Having to carry their find halfway across town was slowing them down as they had to change who was carrying it every so often so that none of them were overworked from carrying the weight of it. They were asked by several locals what it was they were carrying and they managed to dodge fully answering the question. At the bank they were met by one of the representative of a local museum as well as the manager of the bank. Setsuna had called them ahead of time back at the dock, informing them of their find. The museum curator was expressing high interest in their find, calling it one of the biggest finds that year. The bank and the museum offered Setsuna and the rest of them fifty million yen each for just what was there and told them that, since they held the finder's rights to the dive site, the bank would off them ten times that amount for the rest of what was on the ship. Setsuna asked the rest of the group about it, thinking the question over. Konoka and Kaede both said it sounded like a great offer. Yuna, Kotaro and Chizuru also didn't offer up any argument over it. "We'll take the offer. Fifty million now for what we have and five hundred million for the rights to the rest of the treasure."

The curator nodded and thanked Setsuna for accepting. The bank manager excused himself and went into the back to get the money for all of them. A few minutes later he came back with eight hundred million yen, the total amount of the transaction. Setsuna handed over the treasure and signed the rights over as the curator and the bank manager handed over the money. Everyone shook hands and Setsuna, Kotaro, Konoka, Kaede, Yuna and Chizuru all walked out of the bank far richer than they had ever been in their lives. In front of the bank was the treasure dealer they had met the day before. "It's a good thing you went to the bank with this trip's find. You got far more money from them than you would have me. You see I work for Fate Averruncus. You have all, well all but Yuna there, have been in Fate's hands this entire trip. He played you this whole trip, save for this last day. It was his way of rewarding you all without having to do so directly. Fate-sama has plans that no one can ever see the finish of once it has started. There was some intervention on the part of Maga Nosferatu Evangeline, seeing as she threatened all of us to not kill you, mortal peril was apparently fine but we could not kill you. That meddling High Daylight Walker will one of these days overstep a boundary and find herself wishing she could die when she can't. Be thankful you have such a powerful ally."

Setsuna spoke aloud in wonder, "why on earth would Fate plan all of this and then let Evangeline interfere? He strikes me as the kind of individual who could care less about what Evangeline could say."

The treasure dealer shrugged, "Who knows why Fate does what he does. He's always planning and is so many steps ahead of us all that it is impossible for me to guess what his ultimate goal is. As for why he listened to Evangeline you would have to ask either Fate or the woman herself. Needless to say it has been delightful watching you clean out a ship that Evangeline herself sunk so many years ago."

Kotaro said in surprise, "Eva-chan sunk that ship? I know she's immortal but what reason would she have had for doing such a thing? She's as much told us she wouldn't attack anyone unless provoked after a certain point in her life."

Again the shopkeeper shrugged. "That is an answer I do not know. I shall be seeing you all again very soon I hope. Tell Negi that Fate sends his regards." With those words she turned and walked away.

"Well that was odd." Said Konoka.

Everyone nodded at that. No one could have said it better. To all of a sudden be told that everything that had happened since they had gotten there was being orchestrated by Fate put them all on edge a bit. His shadow had stretched over the whole trip and they hadn't even known it until the very end. The news particularly worried Setsuna , she had seen her whole world turned upside down and backwards. O know it had been thought out and planned made her worry what else she had been through had been like that. Konoka sensed her worry and gave her a gentle hug. "Don't worry about it Se-chan. The trip is almost over and we'll be out from under Fate's weird plans. Just think about what you want when we get home."

Setsuna smiled at this and immediately took her lover's advice. Kotaro broke her thoughts after a short time. "I knew that merchant was trouble. I just couldn't peg why. Now we know. I didn't think Fate was still behind it though. Hearing Evangeline got involved doesn't surprise me though. I had thought she was behind the whole thing."

Kaede bluntly told him to drop the topic for now. Chizuru shut up his forthcoming argument by giving him a kiss. A short little spat between Kaede, Chizuru and Kotaro broke out. Yuna and Konoka laughed as they all argued over dumb little points. Setsuna smiled at the whole thing. This trip really had brought them all much closer as friends. She noticed how much closer everyone seemed with those they loved. Everyone here save Kaede had the terrifying experience of losing one they loved, and even Kaede had learned from the experience. A lot of positive things had really come out but one thing still felt like an ominous cloud. It was the fact that Fate had toyed with all of them and then had gone as far as to tell them that this wouldn't be the last time they dealt with him.

The trip to the hotel was short and gather all of their things together took no time at all. Soon enough they were saying goodbye to those at the hotel for the last time. The fact that they were headed home hit them with a feeling of relief. As they arrived back in Mahora a few hours later they all noticed how out of place their tans were. The time out in the open on the boat and the rest of their time spent outside have given everyone a nice deep tan. Setsuna smiled at how everyone looked when it was out of place. They hadn't noticed it because that was how everyone had looked down there.

A short time later they had all parted ways and Setsuna and Konoka had walked back to their dorms. It felt so good to finally be back home. Konoka flopped down on the bed as soon as she had set her bags down. Setsuna smiled as she looked at Konoka. "We're finally home. After all that hell we went through, we're finally back. I clearly recall you saying you wanted. Me naked on the bed and begging you to do everything to me. What do you say to getting your wish?"

Konoka smiled and sat up. She was about to say something when a knock came at the door. "Hey Setsuna, Konoka, I heard you guys were back." Said Asuna who was standing there smiling. "Am I interrupting anything?"

Setsuna smiled and said, "Give us about one hour and we'll come and explain everything to you and Negi."

"Alright Setsuna, you two have fun then. I'll see you in an hour." Asuna said as she closed the door.

Setsuna laughed and quietly locked the door. "Now what was your answer? I believe Asuna interrupted you."

Konoka giggled and said, "What do you think my answer to that would be? Of course I would love to see you like that. After all I was the one who suggested the idea."

Setsuna leaned down and gave Konoka a gentle kiss. Konoka pulled her onto the bed as they kissed. It slowly turned more passionate as Konoka tugged at Setsuna's skirt. Setsuna was undoing Konoka's top as they let their tongues start playing with each other. Setsuna soon found she was skirt-less and that Konoka had started to quickly work on taking off her top. Setsuna finished unbuttoning Konoka's top and immediately pulled off Konoka's skirt. The two of the kissed more passionately as they soon found themselves in nothing more than their underwear. Setsuna felt her bra and panties leave her body quickly as Konoka finished undressing her. Soon enough afterward Setsuna had Konoka naked as well.

Setsuna slowly broke their kiss and playfully said, "Konoka, do everything to me."

Konoka smiled and then trailed a slow line of kisses down Setsuna's neck to her breasts. Setsuna moaned softly as Konoka gently sucked at one of her nipples. Konoka gently slid a couple of fingers inside Setsuna as she switched to the other nipple. Setsuna moaned a bit louder now that Konoka was inside of her. Konoka slid her fingers in and out of Setsuna, going slightly deeper each time she went in. The feeling was driving Setsuna crazy with pleasure. Her moans were getting louder, urging Konoka to go faster. Konoka then slowly trailed a line of kisses down Setsuna's stomach and stopped just above her opening, teasing her slightly before sliding her tongue inside her. Setsuna gasped in pleasure as she felt Konoka lick at her clit. It was slowly driving her ever closer to her climax. Konoka played with Setsuna a bit more with her tongue, causing Setsuna to finally come, a loud moan accompanying the moment. Setsuna smiled and said panting, "That was amazing Konoka."

Konoka smiled and gave Setsuna a kiss, letting her tongue slide into Setsuna's mouth to share the flavor. "Your turn now Princess." She said with a smirk.

Setsuna smiled and didn't waste too much time with teasing Konoka. She wanted Konoka to feel the same amount of pleasure she just had. She kissed Konoka and slid two fingers inside of her. As she trailed a line of kisses down Konoka's front, Setsuna picked up the speed of the motion of her fingers. Konoka was already moaning rather audibly as Setsuna slid her tongue inside of Konoka. She immediately went and focused on playing with Konoka's clit, working it back and forth with her tongue. Konoka was moaning loud enough to be heard in the next dorm as she finally came. She was out of breath when she spoke. "That...was...amazing." She said breathlessly as she was kissed by Setsuna.

The two of them cuddled for a while in the afterglow and then got up and got dressed. They walked down to Negi and Asuna's dorm and knocked. Asuna answered it and let them in. It took them a whole two hours to explain everything to Negi and Asuna. When they finished another knock came at the door. It was Evangeline. She wasted no time in speaking, "I see all of you made it back safely. It's a good thing Fate held up his end of the bargain, I told him I would personally kill him if he didn't. Did you learn something from that little test? You see, I knew Fate was going to go after you both in Okinawa. So I told him a plan that would teach you both a good lesson and get Fate to leave the country once more. I hadn't reckoned on him involving Kotaro's girlfriend though, so I had to step in once more. As for the ship you found sunk. I personally sank it all those years ago. It was called the "Gale of Zephyrus", a pirate ship. Any gold you sold was already mine in the first place so I had one of Fate's agents act as a treasure seller. I hadn't really reckoned on you going back to the bank the second time though, but I had enough time to have them route what gold you sold to them over to one of my accounts. I did let the Museum curator keep a few though since he was nice about the whole thing. You've been inside a little game of mine since you started training with me. Life is constantly teaching you lessons. I hope this little adventure taught you that."

Setsuna smiled at Konoka and said, "Yes it has, and much more besides. I learned that love is a bond not easily severed and friends are you're greatest asset in life. I guess in a weird way I have you to thank Evangeline for teaching me something I probably would have taken years to figure out."

Evangeline smiled and left without saying anything further. Konoka and Setsuna excused themselves after a few more minutes of talking to Negi and Asuna. When they both got back to their dorm they both lay down on the bed. Konoka snuggled close to Setsuna.

"I love you Konoka, more than anything in the whole world." Setsuna said quietly as they drifted off to sleep.

The last thing Setsuna heard before finally falling completely asleep was Konoka saying, "I love you just as much Setsuna."

The two of them finally slept peacefully. It was going to be a long road but they would get through everything. They had each other and that was enough for them to be completely happy.

(Author's note: Here it is, the last chapter. A lot of time was spent writing this. So many days of writer's block worked through, several classes that interfered with this story being written. Honestly when I started this, I had no idea how long it was going to take to finish. Now here I am on the other side of it, finished. There's a big thank you due to everyone who read this and everything else I write. As always, read and enjoy.)

**Shinobi of the Onyx Sands**


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